That’s right, her out of Brown-Eyed Girls…
[Video][Website]
[6.80]
Brad Shoup: “You know why? What the fuck!” — it’s one of those times when attitude and borrowed language entwine wonderfully. The way “dirty” is used here is so great: there’s the innocence spoiled, yeah, but there’s also the sense of actual disease. He’s human Toxo. The Nicki-style flow and inspiro hip-pop of the first half is winning enough, but after Miryo breaks out the (tragically implied) profanity, wordless gospel BGVs burst behind her like tower bells.
[8]
Iain Mew: Miryo’s delivery of the rap verses is great, especially the way that she stretches her voice out at the end of the first verse to force out new levels of fury, and the percussive single syllables that follow. The rest of the record is unfortunately a bit of a mess, with a chorus that seems to sink back into the background after the earlier attention grabbing. I suppose the fact that the sad spoken bit ends in “WHAT THE FUCK?” is quite funny at least, but someone needs to find Miryo some boshing girl-group records to guest on or something. Oh wait.
[6]
Kat Stevens: Great video (recalling in turn “Marry The Night“, I’m A Cyborg But That’s OK and Carry on Nurse), unsure about the Pink-style whatever-rock.
[3]
John Seroff: Though “Dirty”‘s title and WHAT THE FUH bridge are English, the most interesting wordplay comes from Miryo’s switched-up style when she’s rapping in Korean. It’s still not quite enough to elevate this past mediocrity; I guess we were due for some middle-of-the-road K-pop? Not much to say about the Eagles-ish bass hook or the twenty-three other layers of high gloss paint on the track except that if they don’t add anything, they also don’t take anything away.
[5]
Jer Fairall: Completely wins my heart in the seconds it takes her to say, with barely-concelead vulnerability, “but I don’t care anymore” over an achingly lovely guitar arpeggio, a half-century’s worth of shimmering pop melancholy distilled to pure essence. The rest of it — the gentle sway of the melody, a distant relic of the stuff pop used to made of in the days before Max Martin and Dr. Luke’s assaultive garishness; the rapping that comes on with all of the toughness of a puppy’s playful growl, and much of its adorableness as well — is just gravy.
[8]
Alfred Soto: Listening to Miryo’s ambivalence after Carrie Underwood’s proved instructive. Instead of shoehorning herself into a genre and approach that ill suits her, Miryo reverses polarities, saving her rue for the rap parts and her anger for the strummed verses. In either mode she’s fascinating.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: The exact sort of crunchy, gleefully wild yet oddly tranquil single — think Nicki Minaj recruiting Little Dragon to re-record the Lemmings soundtrack as beats, possibly — that the States should be experimenting with. Its video alone would earn it event status.
[8]
Sabina Tang: The rare song — the rare rap, even — where I had to parse the lyrics for the experience to gel. Not that their meaning is profound, but Miryo’s charm seems to lie in phrasing, neo-Minaj-isms and all. I suspect the song would have gotten a boost had the music followed her cadences too, but it bounces along generically throughout, if pleasantly.
[7]
Michaela Drapes: It’s rare you come across a song that gains instant, unquestioned entry to a messy breakup mixtape, but here’s the track will do nicely to break up that excess of monotonous moping.
[8]
Jonathan Bogart: The dirt is mostly theoretical, even practiced at a continental remove of language. Attitude remains.
[8]