Recently, my suitemate exploded into my room decked out in full makeup and a glow that one could only get from attending a Lily Allen concert. She began to rave about Lily’s outfits, dancers, and set design. We sat and watched some clips that she had recorded during the show including the pop singer’s cover of “Or Nah” by Ty Dolla $ign and The Weeknd (which I ended up loving). The song definitely added shock value to her set and reached out to fans of hers as well as the vocalists on the original track.
Generally, when I think of a song cover, I think of an artist that may not have broken into the mainstream yet covering a top 40 Hit, so it was surprising to hear someone as famous as Lily Allen cover a fairly popular song.
But these types of covers are a lot more popular than I thought (“I Will Always Love You” was originally performed by Dolly Parton). So here are some covers that show pop and RnB some love.
“High For This” by Ellie Goulding
After listening to the Weeknd for a few consecutive hours, I began wondering who else had paid homage to Abel Tesfaye’s smooth vocals and brash lyrics. Ellie Goulding covered his song “High For This” and posted the recording on her SoundCloud. While keeping most of the harmonies and lyrics the same with the exception of the occasional “she” being changed to “he,” Ellie released a song that sounded much like one she would have written herself; the feminine and sprightly quality of her vocals are well reflected in the effects and synth that she chose to go along with the song’s strong bass.
“Drunk In Love” by The Weeknd
In the same vein as Ms. Goulding’s song choice, The Weeknd covered Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love.” The contraction here is that Abel doesn’t seem to be singing about anything that could be misconstrued as love (“I won’t love you, I can’t love you,”). His alternative RnB version of the song touches on other topics such as one night stands, money, and the bitterness that is tossed around in the music industry. He flipped Beyoncé’s original track on it’s head and produced a piece that contains more prevalent guitar parts and a swelling ambience that fills one’s earbuds.
“Crank That (Soulja Boy)” by Beyoncé
Lastly, the 2007 hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was covered by the one and only Queen Bey during her concert tour The Beyoncé Experience. The RnB diva more so sampled Soulja Boy’s original chorus and took liberty when it came the the verses. She performed the song as a call to arms for the men and as advice to ladies to not settle for any less that a soldier.
The audio for the covers of “High For This” and “Drunk In Love” as well as a video clip of Beyoncé’s performance have been added to the YouTube playlist that I mentioned in the last article.