Crime | 5ive Songs

1. Olivia Rodrigo, “favorite crime”

💿  SOUR • 🏷  Olivia Rodrigo / Geffen • 📅  2021

“The things I did / Just so I could call you mine / The things you did / Well, I hope I was your favorite crime.” 🎵 “favorite crime” appears as the penultimate cut on 💿 SOUR, the utterly sublime debut album by teen singer, songwriter, and actress, 🎙 Olivia Rodrigo.  Notably, “favorite crime” features some of the most beautiful vocals and harmonies from Rodrigo the entire album.

On “favorite crimes,” Rodrigo sings about the ‘crimes’ she committed to get him to be hers.  Of course, ultimately, things don’t work out and she’s clearly bothered. “It’s bittersweet to think about the damage that we’d do,” she sings on the bridge, continuing, “‘Cause I was goin’ down, but I was doin’ it with you.”  Tsk, tsk, tsk!

2. Taylor Swift, “No body, no crime”

💿  evermore • 🏷  Taylor Swift • 📅  2020 

🎙  Taylor Swift and 🎙 HAIM? Yes please! That’s what happens on the adult alternative gem, 🎵 “No body, no crime,” which has a strong case as the very best of 💿 Evermore. All parties feel totally locked in – totally in their element.  From the jump, with HAIM’s assertion, “He did it,” “No body, no crime” feels totally elite.  Swift confirms the elite nature of this minor-key, criminal cut on the first verse (“Her husband’s actin’ different, and it smells like infidelity”).

The centerpiece, of course is none other than the chorus, where Swift and HAIM join forces on the chorus:

“She says, ‘I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it’
I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it
... No, no body, no crime
But I ain’t lettin’ up until the day I die.”

3. Raphael Saadiq, “Rikers Island”

💿  Jimmy Lee • 🏷  Columbia • 🗓  2019

Eight years.  That’s how long it had been since Grammy-winning R&B musician 🎙 Raphael Saadiq released a new studio album.  Saadiq returned in 2019 with a contemporary masterpiece – his very personal, socially-changed, fifth studio album, 💿  Jimmy Lee.  The crown jewel of Jimmy Lee is 🎵 “Rikers Island”, where Saadiq sings, “Too many niggas in Rikers Island / Why must it be?” The powerful, socially-changed chorus, continues, “Too many niggas in Rikers Island / Set ‘em free.”

Saadiq begins an entirely new conversation on “Riker’s Island,” and it’s not merely limited to the infamy of Rikers Island itself. The big takeaway is the statement that Saadiq makes about the number of black men that are incarcerated.  Yes, Rikers Island is a universally panned correctional facility, but the theme transcends beyond it.  It’s amazing that this record with disturbing, hurtful subject matter for black families that is also the funkiest joint of the album.  One upping that, it ranks among the very best songs of 2019.

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4. Panic! At the Disco, “Dancing’s Not a Crime”

💿  Pray for the Wicked • 🏷  Fueled by Ramen • 📅  2018

“I’m a moon-walker, I’m like MJ up in the clouds / I know it sounds awkward, I’m filthy as charged, filthy as charged.” Only 🎙 Brendon Urie and 🎙 Panic! At the Disco would deliver such ‘colorful’ lyrics to kick off a record. The record in this case is 🎵 “Dancing’s Not a Crime,” which appears on their 2018 album, 💿  Pray for the Wicked.

“Dancing’s Not a Crime” maintains the band’s beloved horns that occur throughout Pray for the Wicked.  Contextually, this record feels more contemporary compared to the one that precedes, “Roaring 20s.” “Dancing’s Not a Crime” isn’t particularly deep, but it’s all about L-O-V-E which definitely makes it worth something.  Plus, it features those awesome pipes of Urie, so, therefore, it’s definitely special.

Also appears on 🔽:

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5. Juice WRLD, “Robbery”

💿  Death Race for Love • 🏷  Grade A / Interscope • 📅  2019

The ‘big moment’ on 💿  Death Race for Love, the 2019 album by 🎙 Juice WRLD, is undoubtedly the infectious, irresistible hit single, 🎵 “Robbery”. “Robbery” features major-key production, fueled by some sweet piano lines.  Even so, Juice WRLD has been ‘robbed’ of love (“She told me put my heart in the bag (in the bag) / And nobody gets hurt (nobody)”).  His vocals are highly expressive, exaggerated to an extent, and definitely imperfect in pitch.  Even so, this grit and pain he showcases on the chorus in particular is quite appealing and charming.

In addition to the superb chorus, Juice is also ‘on’ during the verses.  One of his best moments occurs on the first verse in which he brilliant combines a slurred vocal approach with drunken lyrics (“And now I’m drinkin’ too much, so I’ma talk with a slur”). In the same verse, he questions the legitimacy of her love.  On the second verse, he kicks the emo ‘up a notch,’ by “getting high when you don’t decide to answer” as well as “Throwing rocks at your window…” There’s also the bridge, incorporating paranoia and butterflies. Word.

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