This is three weeks in a row now that – coupled with others I’ve done in the last, what, I don’t know, six months maybe – an argument could be made, “Is this turning into a music review blog” instead of what we’ve become accustomed to all these years?
The answer is, when you get a track like “Problems” by CeCe submitted to you, there has to be a post about it regardless of whether it makes three consecutive ‘good song’ review-type posts or not.
When I don't have to go try to find the lyrics for a song online somewhere, you know that's the sign of good production value that I could understand what's being sung. I also like that despite the message of this song it's not a rager. The references are very current and should resonate widely.
The track was submitted to me with this as the description:
This song was written to get revenge for a friend who was brutally cheated on by their fiancé. It is the ultimate “F*$#@ YOU FOR CHEATING ON ME” record. This song gives anyone who’s ever been betrayed by someone they love an outlet to be as petty and spiteful as they want for 3:13. It gives them catharsis they need to leave that person/pain behind and truly move on.
As I listened, I pictured this song being performed live and everyone on the floor jumping up and down together – yes because of the rhythm but also in a united release of goodbye-type emotions.
There’s a nice contrast in lyrics from “I’m so tired of being polite,” to “How the hell do you sleep at night?” And the chorus is only stronger, with lyrics that I can see becoming an anthem for people who’ve lived through a situation such as what was described above (in italics).
“Problems, I got ‘em, and you’re number one. Somebody better call up your mother, tell her ‘come get your son,’ ‘cause I’m about to air out your laundry.” And rest assured this climax in the song is so catchy that it will be playing on repeat in my head at least the rest of the day, if not longer.
Despite how popular TikTok has become, it’s expected that if a video link accompanies a song submission such as this one landing on my virtual desktop, it would be pointed to YouTube. Thus I was intrigued to instead be given this link instead to, in fact, TikTok, which, to no surprise, has almost 680 thousand views and over 32 thousand Likes.
Let the record show that you don’t need a full music video to make your point. What’s shown in the TikTok video is what also plays when you pull up the song on Spotify. Either way, it gave me an, “Ohhhh” moment when I saw the middle finger going up to coincide with the “you’re number one” lyric.
As you can tell, CeCe got my attention. I expect it will certainly be the same case for you when you listen (and/or watch).
For almost 20 years now I have been helping indie music artists from around the U.S. and would love to answer questions, make recommendations, and give advice to you. There are challenges with doing it all yourself, so bring those to a call with me and let’s keep you moving forward. Take advantage of my experience and ensure that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed.