Posted by Emily Exton on 06/07/2011 at 9:01 AM Reviews

The Popdust Files: andre 3000, beyonce, Party

How many tracks off 4 will we hear before its June 28 release date? Not that we’re complaining. Recently leaked “Party,” the album’s sole duet featuring an always welcome Andre 3000 (who once again teams up with a strong female after a guest appearance on Ke$ha’s “Sleazy” remix earlier this year) features some retro beats and innate coolness, thanks to Consequence and Kanye West, who brilliantly instructs us to refer to swag sauce as “Swagu.” “Party” follows “Best Thing I Never Had” as being more of typical, expected Beyoncé track, yet it’s still not the definitive B number we’ve been waiting for. (And at this rate, that may never arrive. But maybe that’s a good thing?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmHv4O1rh8

Despite its high-energy suggestive title, “Party” has the subtle coolness of “Ego,” sounding more suitable as the soundtrack to a nightcap rather than an adrenaline-pumping jam that brings people to the dance floor. Its direct, emotional lyrics (“I may be young but I’m ready / To give you all my love”) make things sound like the soiree B is referencing is more a party for two than, say, an entire club a (“I told my girls you can get it”). ’80s-sounding synths give it a throwback feel, further referenced by the time we get to Andre, who breezily reminisces about his mallrat days (“Man we were just in the food court eating our gyros”). The sampling of Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh’s definitive classic La Di Da Di” provides a syllable-enthused chorus, perfectly capable of being the “Umbrella” of summer 2011. The song should get some play at many a barbecue or block party this summer, making the simplistic sounds of “ey-ey-ey” even more inescapable.

POPDUST SAYS:
[starreview tpl=16]