Amerie - “Heard Em All”

Got a girl crush on: Amerie

Speaking of tough girls, Amerie is back and she’s not the hot leggy babe you remember. This time around, she’s a hot leggy edgy babe.:

“The obvious touchstone here is Rihanna, what with the badgirl saunter and Grace Jones-ish hoodie. But as much as we love the Rih, sometimes she doesn’t come with the oomph we’d expect from someone trying to give us juvenile delinquent-face: instead of Billy Idol snarls and erase-you dismissals, we get a blank slate. Enter Amerie, who has this tough lady thing down without overdoing it. Maybe it’s the inherent intelligence she conveys, expressive eyes, or who knows, it could just be the chainlink fence, like she’s hanging out by the dumpster behind the school on the “smoking hill,” or whatever was your school’s equivalent to the place the cool arty kids liked to talk smack.”

You know what? I think I’m liking the direction pop music is going now. At least for female musicians, it’s not (so) saturated with talenteless boobs on sticks anymore. With girls like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga topping the charts who actually write their own songs and have the voices to back it up, I’d say we’re doing pretty good, America. Except for that odd Miley Cyrus girl–What’s up with that?

(via The FADER)