Gimme | 3 to 5 BOPS

Gimme: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 37 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Britney Spears, Joji, Sam Smith, and The Spencer Davis Group.  

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 37th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with GIMME in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Britney Spears, 🎙 G-Eazy, 🎙 Joji, 🎙 Sam Smith, and 🎙 The Spencer Davis Group. Okay, let’s get into it!  

via GIPHY

1. Sam Smith, Koffee & Jessie Reyez, “Gimme” 

💿 Gloria • 🏷 Capitol • 🗓 2023   

“Gimme, gimme what I want, what I want.” Woo! It is not hard to deduce what 🎙 Sam Smith, 🎙Koffee, and 🎙 Jessie Reyez want on 🎵 “Gimme” – relax, it’s just sex! “Gimme” marks the third single from Smith’s fourth studio album, 💿 Gloria. “Gimme” is a ball of fun – infectious from an initial listen.  It begins with Reyez repetitive and utterly simplistic chorus, which is a VIBE and a half – NO CAP! Throw in an infectious beat that totally slaps (production courtesy of Smith, 🎛 Jimmy Napes, StarGate, and Anju Blaxx) and “Gimme” is on fi-ya!  

While Reyez arguably gets the best part of the song, Smith and Koffee shine too. Smith continues to open up about themself song after song, album after album. Admittedly a sexual person, they reveal the cards in the first verse and pre-chorus.  “So, nut before you come over,” they assert, adding, “Your eyes on my dun, dun-dun-dun / I need you closer.” Day-um, Sam! As for the pre-chorus, “Voyeurs are watching us / Giving me such a rush / When I’m crazy and drunk on love / Give me what I want…” Koffee brings the reggae energy on this tropical, reggae-tinged joint, which means we get the patois.  “Mi rock yuh body, ooh suh go rock yuh body fi mi / Come over yah so may mi push yuh body to the limit.” Yup, it’s giving good sex, ladies and gents! Clearly, on “Gimme,” the 🏆 Academy and Grammy-award winning nonbinary singer/songwriter is embracing his sexual side. We know Smith can slay a ballad, but it is also cool to hear him switch things up and open up.   

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:  

• 13 Big Mood, Surefire Vibe Songs (2023) 

2. Joji, “Gimme Love” 

💿 Nectar • 🏷 88rising / 12Tone Music • 📅 2020 

🎵 “Gimme Love”, a highlight from 💿 Nectar, the 2020 album by 🎙 Joji (George Miller), incorporates cues of alternative R&B but transcends beyond such. The unique record commences with intense, pummeling electronic drums, unique vocals that serve capacity as a layer of the production (“Oh’s”), and keyboards/synths, mixed farther in the background.  Post-intro, Miller introduces the repetitive but highly effective chorus, singing airy, chill fashion, never perspiring. “Gimme, gimme love, gimme, gimme love …When I’m gone, when I’m gone.” Could he make it any clearer what he desires? In the verse, he sings in a more low-key fashion.  Furthermore, he is more abstract lyrically.  Still, he has his direct, longing moments: “You leavin’ me here with ashes and fire.” Post chorus, we get quite a surprise, as “Gimme Love” transforms.  The sound becomes more amorous, lush, spirited, and more acoustic. Thematically, Miller remains focused on his/her heart, while serving up contrasting lyrics.  

3. G-Eazy, “Gimme Gimme” 

💿 Step Brothers (EP) • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2017  

The second-best honors of 💿 Step Brothers, the collaborative EP by rappers 🎙 G-Eazy and 🎙 Carnage, goes to 🎵 “Gimme Gimme.” Here, G-Eazy raps solo. Eazy offers an infectious hook.  It’s nothing groundbreaking or transcendent but establishes the song as a highlight from the EP: “Yeah, gimme, gimme, gimme money / Spendin’, spendin’, spendin’ money / People say they want my spot? / But you’ll never get it from me.” Beyond his self-assured hook, generally, Eazy offers more of the same regarding his rhymes.  He’s in full-on, celebratory, turn-up mode. Throughout, he references sex, something we’ve become accustomed to hearing from the MC early on.  Much like the famous “‘Cause I’m fucking your girlfriend / And there’s nothing you can do about it” from 🎵 “I Mean It”, he reprises the role: “Yeah, I’m on point like an ice pick / On lock like a vice grip / and your girl is on my tip / You never see the day that I slip.” 

4. Britney Spears, “Gimme More” 

💿 Blackout • 🏷 Zomba Recording LLC • 📅 2007  

Three words: “It’s Britney bitch!” WOO! Those iconic lyrics appear on 🎙 Britney Spears’ no. 3 Billboard Hot 100 hit, 🎵 “Gimme More.” “Gimme More” marks one of the best moments from her 2007 album, 💿 Blackout.  This fierce pop joint is set in a minor key, and features production courtesy of 🎛 Danja, one of the hotter producers in the aughts.  Additionally supporting Spears’ cause was songwriting by Danja, 🎼 ✍ Keri Hilson, Marcella Araica, and Jim Beanz. As colorful as the production is, and as entertaining as the songwriting is (“Cameras are flashing / While we’re dirty dancing”), the star ⭐️ of the show is BRITNEY SPEARS, bi-otch 🔥! She delivers breathy vocals full of personality (“You got me in a crazy position (Yeah) / If you’re on a mission (Uh-huh), you got my permission”).  Even though she didn’t write the song, you buy what she is selling, and what she is selling is S-E-X-Y and, again, F-I-E-R-C-E! That’s right Britney, GIMME MORE!!!  

5. The Spencer Davis Group, “Gimme Some Lovin’” 

💿 The Best of  The Spencer Davis Group • 🏷 Capitol • 📅 1989 

“And I’m so glad we made it / So glad we made it / I want, gimme some-a lovin / Gimme some-a lovin’ / Gimme some-a lovin’, every day.” WOO! Who doesn’t want some lovin’ every day? 🎙 The Spencer Davis Group recorded a masterpiece in 1966 – NO 🚫 CAP 🧢! 🎵 “Gimme Some Lovin’” was a huge hit worldwide by the British collective, including reaching the top 10 in the US.  A blend of rock, pop, and soul, take one listen to “Gimme Some Lovin’” and it is clear why it is one of the greatest songs of all time.  On a side note, personally, this was one of my favorite songs to play in high school pep band at football and basketball games – fun, fun, FUN! The driving rhythm is electric, giving the record ample intensity.  Furthermore, the lead vocals by the legendary 🎙 Steve Winwood are incredibly assertive, complementing the ‘turned-up’ nature of the supporting instrumental (“Let me in, baby, I don’t know what you got / But you better take it easy, this place is hot”). Also, what about that mean sounding organ that Steve throws into the mix? Organ makes everything better, FACTS!  Of course, the crowning achievement is the chorus, which is EVERYTHING 💪. “Gimme Some Lovin’” was written by Steve, his older brother, 🎼 ✍ Muff Winwood, and the late Spencer Davis.  

GIMME: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 37 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 88rising / 12Tone Music; Capitol, RCA, Zomba Recording LLC; cottonbro studio via Pexels]