We R In Need Of A Musical Revolution
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"We R in Need of a Musical Revolution" is a song by Canadian singer/songwriter
Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself ...
. It was released as part of a six-song EP in November 2004 and was also featured on her 2005 album ''
Wikked Lil' Grrrls ''Wikked Lil' Grrrls'' is Canadian singer Esthero's second album, her first full-length in seven years. It was released on June 28, 2005 in North America by Reprise Records. The album elicited mixed reviews upon its release, with contemporary musi ...
''. The song lyrically explores the lack of originality in current popular music, decrying several popular performers, including Ashanti and
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
. Upon its release, the song received almost unanimous praise from critics, who compared Esthero's vocal performance to
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
's and praised the track's outspokenness and production. An accompanying music video was shot in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and released, receiving play on
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
. To promote the song, an EP of the same name was released by Reprise Records in November 2004. It featured collaborations with
Sean Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tige ...
and
Cee-Lo Cee-lo is a gambling game played with three six-sided dice. The name is derived from the Chinese name for the game, which is literally the numerical sequence four-five-six (). Although many variations exist, there are certain common rules, includ ...
and garnered unanimous praise from critics, who praised the release's eclecticism and regarded the title track as a highlight.


Background and writing

Esthero had been dropped from Work Group Records in 1999, when it was absorbed into
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
. She subsequently signed with Reprise Records and worked on a number of collaborations and soundtrack contributions before commencing recording for her second album in the early 2000s. Due to a series of delays, "We R In Need of a Musical Revolution" wasn't released until late 2004, making some of the lyrics sound dated. In an interview with The Washington Post, she stated that "When I wrote it, the Ashanti comment ("No matter where I go, I see Ashanti on the video screen") was relevant," but that "by the time we mixed (the song), I was secretly hoping she would resurface with something so that my statement would be relevant!" Ashanti returned to the spotlight as a spokeswoman for Herbal Essence, and Esthero admits that "Secretly I was going, 'Yes, now my song makes sense!'" Esthero told ''Billboard'' that she chose to have the song as the opening track on ''Wikked Lil' Grrrls'' because it "made everything make sense. I felt that if I make it the first track on the record, people would understand why I do so much genre-hopping and why the album is so manic. It just puts a nice little bow on the record."


Composition

Lyrically, the song explores the lack of originality in current popular music. Esthero references a number of musicians and pop-culture events in the song. Some of these include: * Ashanti ("No matter where I go, I see Ashanti in the video") *
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
("And MTV they only play the same thing") *
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
("No matter where I go, I see Britney on my video screen") *
R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames suc ...
("Tell me why a grown man can rape a little girl, but we still hear his shit on our radio")


Critical reception

The song garnered mostly favorable reviews from music critics, with many comparing the song to
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
's music. Johnny Loftus, writing for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, felt that the song was a highlight of both the EP and the album and stated that the song "updates the sound of Esthero's 1998 debut with propulsive programming and more Björk in her vocal than ever before." Mark Saleski, writing for ''Blog Critics'', was similarly-positive, calling the song "sassy" and "funny". ''Slant'' Magazine's Sal Cinquemani likewise praised the track, commenting that its lyrics "justly lambaste radio for its repetitive playlists and MTV for what they're now calling the 'Big 10.'" However,
Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...
, writing for the ''
Cleveland Scene The ''Cleveland Scene'' is an alternative weekly newspaper based in Cleveland, Ohio. The newspaper includes highlights of Cleveland-area arts, music, dining, and films, as well as classified advertising. The first edition of the newspaper was pu ...
'', held the opposite view. She felt that the song was the weakest track on the EP, calling it "weak" and "whiny".


Music video

A music video, directed by Noble Jones, was released, and features Esthero destroying televisions and performing on a busy street. The city and street scenes were shot in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. The video was premiered in June 2005, and was aired on
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
.


EP

A six-track EP of the same name was released by
Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...
to promote the song, and in anticipation of her second full-length album, which the label predicted would be released in early 2005. Three of the tracks, including the title track, were later included on her second full-length album, ''
Wikked Lil' Grrrls ''Wikked Lil' Grrrls'' is Canadian singer Esthero's second album, her first full-length in seven years. It was released on June 28, 2005 in North America by Reprise Records. The album elicited mixed reviews upon its release, with contemporary musi ...
''.


Track listing

#"We R in Need of a Musical Revolution!" – 4:04 #"Everyday Is a Holiday with You" – 4:02 #"Gone" – 5:11 #"This Lull-a-bye" – 5:30 #"I Drive Alone" – 3:40 #"Amber & the Tiger's Eye" – 7:28 (bonus track)


Critical reception

The EP garnered highly positive reviews.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
notes the EP as a career highlight for Esthero.
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Johnny Loftus awarded the EP three and a half out of five stars, likening Esthero's vocal performance to Bjork's and praising the EP's stylistic range, noting "Gone" as the EP's best song. Annie Zaleski, writing for ''Cleveland Scene'', was also positive, commenting that the EP demonstrates Esthero's "musical growth" and noting the album's stylistic eclecticism. She had mixed feelings, however, regarding the title track, and commented that "tidying up her once-messy mash-ups produces songs that just aren't very interesting."


References


External links


View the music video
on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{Esthero Esthero songs 2004 singles 2004 songs 2004 EPs Songs about music Songs written by Esthero