- If you were worried that Uffie writes rhymes, don't be—she writes cheques, too. Phew. That seems to be the message on the Paris-based coquette's third single from her album Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. She's rapped before about "talking shit" and how her "style is confusing, cause you don't know," so perhaps the lyrics aren't the best talking point. But for a lack of much else (Claudja Barry piano sample, kick-snare combo, one bass note per bar), and the actual fact that "Difficult" is indeed a rap song, they'll have to make do. I assume by way of a pre-emptive strike against cynical critics, there is a smidgen of irony ("If my choruses are not catchy enough, don't listen to them"), but it falls someway short of a carte blanche when we're told she gets her clothes and drugs for free, and spends her fee on ghost-written rhymes. It's not that I don't get the nonchalance, simply that rap seemed more relevant when it came with gin and juice than straight outta Saint Germain with a handbag.
Remix number one comes courtesy of SebastiAn (who actually wrote the original along with Feadz). He labels it the "2006 Parties Remix" which seems about right considering its distortio in excelsis homage to the Justice album or, for that matter, most of his own discography. And after their turn on Tiga's Turbo label earlier in the year, Azari & III make a debut appearance on the not-too-dissimilar Ed Banger and increasingly their baptism of gold in 2009 is appearing a distant memory. The beats are lively and there's a lot going on in terms of layering, but it's hard to believe that the artists behind two of last year's biggest grooves couldn't be more inventive than a fa-mi-re-do crotchet-plodding bassline repeated ad infinitum, or hear that it clashes at times with the key signature of the string melody. Following on from "Reckless" and "Hungry" was always going to be, as Uffie would say, difficult.
Tracklist A Difficult
B1 Difficult (2006 Parties Remix by SebastiAn)
B2 Difficult (Azari & III Remix)