New Music Tuesday: No, Meghan Trainor, No

Meghan Trainor is an absolute psychological conundrum for me. Sometimes I hate her, sometimes I tolerate her, but usually? I have no idea. She's frequently problematic, but also empowering. This song? Equally confusing, but for different reasons. Her newest song, entitled "No", is about being hit on in clubs when she's just trying to get down with her girls. Not necessarily a new idea, but she definitely uses this song to show the diversion from her "signature" doo-wop sound, which seems to be consistent with her new album "Thank You".

This song is about clearly and concisely empowering women to reject men. Not lying about having a boyfriend, or apologizing...get your hands off me. No.

That's great! Yes! We need more songs spreading that message. It's important to be able to enforce your opinion without floundering through it. One of my New Years' resolutions was to apologize less, because if you've ever stopped and counted, women are conditioned to apologize pretty frequently, and I don't want to waste the breath. But anyways, I digress.

Onto the troubling part. She co-wrote this with a white writer and it was produced by a white producer to have a more "angry" and "urban", according to Meghan, sound. She does some clumsy rap in the beginning, pulling a little Iggy Azalea with a Southern/AAE accent. Meghan Trainor, whose home state is Massachusetts, put on a Southern accent to rap.

WHEN WILL THIS END.

That being said, the song has a very early-2000s Britney feel to it. It starts out with the whole doo-wop thing she's branded for herself, and it picks up really quickly from there. Honestly, 15 years ago, NSYNC would've had this as a number 1.

The song's definitely growing on me. She isn't untalented, I appreciate the feminist embrace, and I love her strength as an artist.

That being said, I hate when people hide behind political correctness to disguise ingrained racism. "Urban"? Please, girl. We know what you mean.

Meghan Trainor is definitely a mixed bag. I would have loved the song had she not pronounced it as "urban" and put on an accent that clearly isn't natural. The beat is great, very 90's, very nostalgic. I congratulate her for finally getting feminism right(-ish). But feminism isn't all about white ladies, as everyone should know/learn/make an effort to recognize.

Is this song catchy? Yes. Is it fun? Yes. Will it probably crack the Billboard Top 10? Probably.

But is it okay for artists to relate "urban" to "angry" and change their speech to sound like a Southern black dialect to enforce their new, hip-hop, "edgy" image?

Nah to the ah to the no, no, no.