Superstar | 3 to 5 BOPS

Reading Time: 5 min read

Superstar: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 33 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Beyoncé, Lupe Fiasco, Luther Vandross, Usher, and Yves Tumor.

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 33^rd edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with SUPERSTAR in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Beyoncé, 🎙 Lupe Fiasco, 🎙 Luther Vandross, 🎙 Usher, and 🎙 Yves Tumor. Okay, let’s get into it!

via GIPHY

1. Beyoncé, “Alien Superstar”

💿 RENAISSANCE • 🏷 Parkwood Entertainment LLC / Columbia • 🗓 2022

“I’m too classy for this world, forever, I’m that girl.” 🎙 Beyoncé keeps 💿 RENAISSANCE – arguably the best album of 2022 – captivating with the standout, 🎵 “Alien Superstar.” Bey goes extraterrestrial, not only with the lyrics but also, with the production. She’s backed by an instrumental (Beyoncé, 🎛 Luke Solomon, Honey Dijon, Chris Penny, MIKE DEAN, The-Dream, and NOVA WAV) that screams cosmic and outer space vibes, while the beat continues to incite body movement. Beyoncé embraces her uniqueness and continues to exude self-assuredness – no self-esteem issues to be found in the least! It would not be far-fetched to call this one of the most unique songs the Queen has ever recorded. What more is there to say but “Bow down, bitches”!

Appears in 🔻:

50 Best Songs of 2022

2. Yves Tumor, “Super Stars”

💿 Heaven To A Tortured Mind • 🏷 Warp • 📅 2020

“Girl, when I’m with you, it’s like super stars.” Woo! Well, that sums up 🎵 “Super Stars” by 🎙 Yves Tumor (Sean Bowie) sufficiently. “Super Stars” graces the non-binary musician’s 2020 album, 💿 Heaven To A Tortured Mind – what a title! Tumor is assertive from the onset, beginning with the intro which emphasizes the word, YOU aka her… In the first verse, Tumor encourages her, “Baby, lady, tell me I’m your lover / Baby, love me like no other woman.” Ooh wee! In the second verse, they sing, “Hang me like no other lover, baby / Tell me, lately, do I drive you crazy?” The verse also suggests Yves won’t love anybody else like they love her, asking her to “Break me, mend me, help my heart recover,” as well as on the bridge, imploring her to “Rain down, rain down on me.” Awesome, expressive vocals, simple but relatable songwriting, and sensational, psychedelic infused production work (Tumor and 🎛 Justin Raisen) makes “Super Stars” a truly super record.

3. Lupe Fiasco, “Superstar” (Ft. Mathew Santos)

💿 Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2007

“If you are what you say you are / A superstar / Then have no fear, the camera’s here…” Why thank you 🎙 Matthew Santos for those hella memorable lyrics from the 🎙 Lupe Fiasco hit, 🎵 “Superstar.” In most of his career, 🏆 Grammy winner Lupe Fiasco has been on the opposite end of commercial success. A talented rapper from the start of his career, he was not an electrifying chart presence as far as pop hits until “Superstar.” Appearing on his 2007 album, 💿 Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, this 🎛 Soundtrakk produced gem peaked at no. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008, the first of two top-10 hits by the rapper (🎵 “The Show Goes On” spent 33 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at no. 9 in 2011). Besides the stellar hook by Santos, and alternative-sounding backdrop, Lupe does what he does best – raps his a$$ off. A prime example: “And then it hit me, standing outside of heaven / Waiting for God to come and get me: I’m too uncouth / Unschooled to the rules and too gumshoe / Too much of a newcomer and too uncool.” Sigh, the bars, the bars! The platinum single definitely helped Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool be certified platinum 💪.

4. Usher, “Superstar”

💿 Confessions • 🏷 LaFace • 📅 2004

“This is for you, you, my number one.” Ooh-la-la! On 🎵 “Superstar,” the ninth track, and one of many gems from his diamond certified masterpiece, 💿 Confessions, R&B superstar (and sex symbol 😍) 🎙 Usher unselfishly switches roles. Huh? Rather than focus on his own superstardom, which was established prior to Confessions, The 🏆 Grammy winner makes his “number one” the superstar. “Fifty thousand fans screamin’ in a rage,” he sings in the first verse, adding, “Bodyguards (Bodyguards) and limousines / This is the way I see you in my dreams.” #SMITTEN

Usher goes on to proclaim, in the memorable chorus, “I’ll be your groupie baby / ‘Cause you are my superstar / I’m your number one fan, give me your autograph / Sign it right here on my heart…” Again, it is clear that he is digging on her something fierce! Furthermore, he “drove twelve hours, girl, just to see / Your pretty face one more time.” My, my, MY! Ultimately, “Superstar” is consistent compared to the rest of this 5-star LP, easily ranking among the top tier of Confessions. The slickly produced “Superstar,” which was produced by 🎛 Dre & Vidal (Andre Harris and Vidal Davis), samples a lush 1973 🎙 Willie Hutch song, 🎵 “Mack’s Stroll (The Getaway)”. Usher penned this

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5. Luther Vandross, “Superstar”

💿 Busy Body • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1983

There are few singers who could sing as smoothly as 🎙 Luther Vandross. Vandross was the exemplification of cool energy and finesse. His vocal performances can be characterized by being refined. One of Vandross’ best, most iconic performances was his cover of 🎵 “Superstar,” popularized by 🎙 The Carpenters, who covered the songs themselves. Appearing as the seventh track on his 1983 album, 💿 Busy Body, the original nine-minute-long song is fused with the soul gem, 🎵 “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”. On various greatest hits compilations, it’s released as a standalone, five-and-a-half-minute-long number.

Listening to Luther sing “Superstar” is a heavenly experience – it’s almost spiritual! His tone is silky smooth, riding lush production work with incredible ease. He sings with utmost expression yet never forces things. Furthermore, that backdrop, intact with keys, strings, and backing vocals, never crowds or inhibits Vandross – he’s always in command. Speaking of background vocals, I love it when we get those sweet ‘Lutheran’ (not religious) harmonies. The Carpenters performed this 🎼✍ Bonnie Bramlett / Leon Russell classic sensationally, but Vandross makes it his own, gorgeous adult contemporary R&B masterpiece.

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:

Superstar: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 33 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic, LaFace, Parkwood Entertainment LLC / Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment, Warp; Ivan Samkov, Tamilles Esposito via Pexels]

Superstar | 3 to 5 BOPS

Published by the musical hype on April 25, 2023April 25, 2023