Finding the Rhythm

One of the roles of a good club DJ, in my view, is staying on top of what’s happening with music, and working actively to find new material that you can, in-turn, introduce others to.

It’s actually a tough job, because at this point, there’s such a strong flow of new music from all sides. A lot of it’s good, a lot of it’s not, and of course there are the standouts that are pathetically bad or surprisingly strong. Not surprisingly, most of it lives somewhere in the middle, but this week, I was really struck by a song I was previewing.

Taio Cruz is a British singer/songwriter, and honestly, until this week I’d never heard of the guy. Among his claims to fame is penning the song Your Game for Will Young, winner of the first season of Pop Idol in the UK (the original series that spawned American Idol), not that that would have earned him much recognition here in the States (it was a strong single in the UK, however).

This month, his label (Island/Universal) released his new single, I Can Be. The production on the dance mix struck me immediately; there was something about the chord progression or arrangement that just spoke to me. But when Cruz starting singing, and the lyrics registered, I was quite literally emotionally moved by the song.

The beautifully written and yet startlingly simple lyrics convey a message that virtually all of us need to hear and can relate to, one of triumph over difficulty; that we are far more capable than most of us think we are. I’m a sucker for uplifting lyrics of the “positive thinking” vein, and this is one of the best of that type that I’ve heard in a long time.

Regrettably, the single is not yet released in North America, and I have no idea if Island/Universal is planning to do so. But I assume promoting it to DJs here is a sign that they intend to. I hope they do; Cruz deserves all the success he can get putting out music like I Can Be.

You can hear the non-dance version of the song on Cruz’ web site, as well as see the video that accompanies it, on his web site at http://www.taiocruzmusic.co.uk.