Jerry, Q.T., Mickey, Chad, and Doug are MTV’s boy band 2Gether, whose second album Again was released last week. The “band,” spawned from MTV’s original film, 2Gether, which depicted the successes and ultimate failure of a contemporary band.
The film was later developed into a television series, starring talented young actors typical of our time, who play the roles of each band member. Actors playing faux band members …who is real?
2Gether Again made me laugh or at least, roll my eyes, while I was listening to it. Imitating contemporary popular artists such as Britney Spears, N Sync, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees and Ricky Martin, 2Gether’s music is a medley of jazzy pop, hip-hop, rap, alternative, and R&B. Despite the fact that they tour with these artists, their lyrics clearly indicate an intent to ridicule them.
The first track of the album, “5 Gether,” begins with a techno mix that appalls the listener, which eventually develops into a hip-hop rhythm. Somewhere in the middle of the track, the band members break into an a capella harmony and oscillate between the a capella and hip-hop sound. They shamelessly use lyrics such as “A rub-a-dub-dub” and “This ‘ain’t the Lilith Fair.”
“The Hardest Part of Breaking Up,” the second track, tells about a guy who regrets his break-up with his girlfriend because she is a kleptomaniac who “walked out of my life with my CD collection” and now he “can’t find [his] cat.” Intending to mock these artists with the doubtlessly stupid and cheesy lyrics, the track begins with the typical Backstreet Boys sing-song groan and develops into an N Sync upbeat sound, adding a Britney Spear-ish snarl periodically throughout the song.
2Gether manages to reproduce the same slow, overly sentimental, 98 Degrees, R&B sound on tracks such as “Every Minute, Every Hour,” “I Gave My 24-7 To You,” and “Sister.”
The story in “Sister” is about a guy who choruses, “I promise you, I didn’t know she was your sister … I couldn’t resist her, your little sister … Who would have thought that she’s really that young?” Nasty, but I guess repulsion was the goal.
The lyrics in the second to last cut, “U & U & Me,” blatantly propose a menage-a-trois while the track, “Awesum LuvR,” in contrast, talks about a pubescent boy in a tumultuous period time in his life, “I’m just a nice guy with a pretty girl voice.” In the same vein, the last track of the album makes fun of pretty good boys like Dawson Leary of the TV series, Dawson’s Creek.
If you’re sick of teen radio pop music and artist, this album will probably amuse you. But the parodies might get old before the album is through.
Archived article by Audrey Wu