Mariah Carey, "Obsessed"

I was listening to "Every Girl" (Lil Wayne feat. Drake) on the radio not too long ago, and all I could think was how much I want Wayne and all these other decent artists to just ditch the autotune.* It's too easy now to cover up bad singing and rapping, and it sounds more sloppy than interesting after you've heard it the first few times. That said, I do think it is completely possible for autotuning to be applied in ways that can actually make a song sound better. "Obsessed" is one such song.

"Obsessed" is also supposedly a diss song about Eminem. Eminem, whose songs are filled with outdated and not especially clever pop culture references. One of his most recent singles, "We Made You" contains various gags about such current material as "Rock of Love," Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson, and Sarah Palin. This appears to be a common trend in Relapse, which apparently also at one point or another takes a poke at Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey, prompting "Obsessed." As one might expect, the insults in "Obsessed" are more bizarre than cutting: "You so so lame," "You a mom and pop/I'm a corporation/I'm a press conference/And you a conversation" and my favorite "Seeing right through you like you're bathing in Windex." It's oddly fitting, that Carey is releasing a diss song directed at Eminem that obsesses over obsession as both stars fade into irrelevance. And for that I do love it.

*Especially Lil Wayne, because he has probably the most recognizable and unique voice in hip hop today. He doesn't need the autotune to sound cool.