What About Us
What About Us, from Livin' Out Loud, is a mixture of R & B, hip-hop, techno and soul, all bundled in a harmonic package. The danceable rhythms will have listeners aching to groove to the record's infectious tone, and the band members trade vocal duties seamlessly so a beat is never missed.
On "All That Really Matters (5AM Radio Edit)," listeners can hear the band members harmonizing against the techno flow of the song. Their voices mesh over each other in a rhythmic way as they talk about what means most in their lives, with such lines as, "Anything that you give to me. Anything that you give to me. All that really matters to me that you give to me/There is a special place that I want you to stay and that it is in my heart forever and ever/You'll always have a place in my heart."
With the title track, rap begins the track as it is about the finale of what one person thought was a relationship, but comes to find out it was just a fun time for the other participant. The track is like a discourse between the two, with the male rapping and the female singing her thoughts on their hookup. The male begins with lines like, "I used to love ya baby, the key word is used to/I'm a man so that means I'm a dirty dog...We had a good thing, now let's chalk it up to a good fling." Then, the female retorts with questions on the man's uncaring view of their relationship, with, "Can I talk to you/It's been too long since we got along and I know things change, livin' day by day. You don't take the time to tell me what's on your mind, baby. You used to love me crazy. I knew I was your lady. Now that it doesn't feel that way. What about you? What about me? What about us?" It seems the female is asking the male what went wrong and why he suddenly discarded her from his heart, when she felt things were going so well.
On "Where's the Love (Original Urban Mix)," there is a slow, soulful vibe as the female vocalist opens the song and talks about her knowing her man is telling her lies and how she will not stand for it anymore, as she emotes lines such as, "Give me one reason I should stay/Wait a minute now. I need to talk to you. Don't you lie to me, you better talk true/Tell me what's up/Talk to me boy is so hard for you to show? Where's the love? Where's the love? Where's the love? Why are you givin' it up, so tell me where's the love? I remember when you were caressin' me, you called out a name, now tell me who is she?" It looks like the female vocalist wants to know why this man has been telling her untruths, and she also wants to know what happened to all the affection between them.
What About Us, from Livin' Out Loud, is a techno, rhythm and blues fan's dream. The harmonizing is excellent as is the instrumentation. Both the male and female vocalists' timbres are silky smooth, which adds to the power of their respective points. If you are a techno, R & B or soul enthusiast, go live out loud and pick up this album.