The Bottom Line
The Black Eyed Peas have certainly had one of the most phenomenal runs of pop smash hits in recent pop music history. The E.N.D. has already generated four top 10 pop singles, including three #1, and the fifth single "Rock That Body" is no slouch. Fueled by a sample from Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's hip hop classic "It Takes Two," it's nearly impossible to not like "Rock That Body." However, ultimately this is such a slight piece of repetitive melody, it doesn't match the sheer power of "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling."
Pros
- Legendary "I wanna rock right now" sample from "It Takes Too"
- Powerful trance synths
- Party dance anthem atmosphere
Cons
- Simple, extremely repetitive melody
- Feeling of being filler
Description
- Written by W. Adams, A. Pineda, J. Gomez, S. Ferguson, D. Guetta, M. Knight, A. Walder, J. Baptiste, J.L. Munson, and R. Ginyard, Jr.
- Produced by David Guetta, will.i.am, Mark Knight, and Funkagenda
- Released May 2010 by Interscope
Guide Review - Black Eyed Peas - "Rock That Body"
Trance style dance synthesizers slip into a sample of Rob Base's legendary call "I wanna rock right now" from "It Takes Two," and the Black Eyed Peas are off on the path to another major pop hit. Working again with dance music producer David Guetta who lent his magic to "I Gotta Feeling," this track will ignite any party atmosphere. More than any of the hits so far from The E.N.D., "Rock That Body" brings a bit of the feel of the dance underground to the pop mainstream.
Ultimately, it's the intensely futuristic vibe of the song that makes it all sound almost entirely machine created. The drawback is that even when they are presenting a song nominally about futurism in music like "Boom Boom Pow," it's the group's uniquely human approach that wins the day. "Rock That Body" sounds almost like the synths and drum machines were set on auto-pilot and the group went out to do their own thing. Check out the brief debate on this topic at the opening to the "Imma Be Rockin' That Body" video with link above.
"Rock That Body" is not to be discounted as it is a powerfully engaging party anthem. However, it is a relatively minor track in the Black Eyed Peas' recent hot streak. While listening to the video's mash-up, "Rock That Body" sounds almost like an extended coda to "Imma Be." In the context of the album The E.N.D. it serves as a slick bridge between "Boom Boom Pow" and the beauty of "Meet Me Halfway." On those terms "Rock That Body" will keep the Black Eyed Peas on pop radio playlists for much of the summer in fine form with anticipation for the next new effort by the group.
