Zoom | 3 to 5 BOPS

Zoom: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 56 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Aretha Franklin, Commodores, Cub Sport, Future, and Lil Uzi Vert.

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 55^th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with ZOOM in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Aretha Franklin, 🎙 Commodores, 🎙 Cub Sport, 🎙 Future, and 🎙 Lil Uzi Vert. Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Lil Uzi Vert, “Zoom”

💿 Pink Tape • 🏷 Generation Now / Atlantic • 📅 2023

“Pull up, my car, it go, ‘vroom’ / This is a couple, no, no legroom / Pull up on your bitch like, ‘zoom.’” Ya know, 🏆 Grammy nominated, nonbinary rapper 🎙 Lil Uzi Vert makes some valid points in those excerpts from the chorus of 🎵 “Zoom.”  I mean, truthfully, passengers riding in a coupe do have little legroom.  But for me, it’s how Uzi Vert is going to get down with your bitch… like, ZOOM! “Zoom” is a bonus cut from their much discussed, highly anticipated LP, 💿 Pink Tape.  The record commences enigmatically, featuring slick production courtesy of  🎛 Charlie Handsome and Wheezy.  Beyond the chorus, Uzi Vert delivers “Zoom” with ample confidence and no shortage of personality. “Size 29 my jeans,” they rap in the pre-chorus, concluding, “but my clip is a 30.” Their performance is melodic yet tough 💪.  

2. Cub Sport, “Zoom”

💿 Jesus At The Gay Bar • 🏷 Cub Sport / Believe • 📅 2023 

“Stare at pictures of you on my phone / think about you when I get home,” 🎙 Cub Sport lead singer 🎙 Tim Nelson sings in the chorus of 🎵 “Zoom,” the touching fifth track from the Australian indie-pop collective’s fifth album, the unapologetically titled 💿 Jesus At The Gay Bar. Nelson adds in a gorgeous, ripe falsetto, “I’m zooming in on photos of your face, on your eyes / I’m planning our whole lives.” Aww 🥰! Listening to this slickly produced record, the love that Tim feels for his husband and bandmate, 🎙 Sam Netterfield, is indisputable.  Clearly, he cannot get past these feelings which are authentic – incredibly genuine.  Notably, in the bridge, Nelson seems to detail how this relationship can work, one that has clearly been secret (“We could run away / Where no one knows our names / I could see you every day, see you every day”).   

3. Future, “Zoomin”

💿 FUTURE • 🏷 Epic • 📅 2017

“I secure the bag first (Brr, brr), I’m ready to boast (Ready to go, yeah) / I secure the bag first, I’m full of that dope (Full of that dope, yeah).” WOO! In the context of his 2017 album, 💿 FUTURE, on 🎵 “Zoom,” 🎙 Future delivers a dark and seedy vibe.  The production (🎛 Southside and !llmind) sounds faded, distinguishing it from other songs on the LP. From the jump, Future gets to work and NEVER looks back. His cockiness, confidence are through the roof, and his drip is out of control.  Not everybody could buy his “lil’ nigga 12 slugs (Yah), just to shine bright when he mug (Yah, yah).” Day-ummm! The 🏆 Grammy-winning ATL MC constructs a sick chorus – NO 🚫 CAP 🧢!  

“Turbo switchin’ lanes, Hublot switch your watch

Trappin’ switch the spots when you’re running hot

Feet on the gas (gone), trappin’ dem bags (Pluto)

Run up a sack and never look back

Shorty got miles on her, I’m about to spaz in it (boom boom)

I ran it up fast, I ran it up fast…” 

4. Aretha Franklin, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”

💿 Who’s Zoomin Who? • 🏷 Arista • 📅 1985

Take another look and tell me, baby / (Who’s zoomin’ who?).” Great musicians are able to adapt to the times and changing face of the music business, and 🎙 Aretha Franklin found herself with some well-rounded pop hits in the 1980s including 🎵 “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” from her 1985 album, 💿 Who’s Zoomin Who?.  “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 – one of her 17 top-10 hits. 

“Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” was written by Franklin, 🎛 Narada Michael Walden (who also produces), and Preston Glass. It’s idiomatic of the changing face of R&B in the 1980s with the drum programming, in its boxy, rhythm glory. The sound palette is also colorful thanks to the warm synths that help fuel the fire.  Of course, Aretha doesn’t need much fueling if any – she was a powerhouse who always seemed to be locked-in and on autopilot.  Her vocals sound remarkable, retaining their soulful sensibilities.  Of course, Franklin, who commandingly handles the lead, gets a marvelous assist from backing vocals, allowing her to riff and do her T-H-A-N-G. She offers up plenty of personality on the verses, fueled by its flirtation, led not by him, but rather, her. “Guess you believed the world / Played by your rules,” Franklin sings in the second verse, adding, “Here stands an experienced girl / I ain’t nobody’s fool, bump you.” Woo! She goes on to state in the pre-chorus, “You thought you had me covered now, boy /… But you’re bound to be my lover, oh.” Da-yum! We concentrate on the earlier part of Aretha’s career for good reason, but there are later gems like the infectious 🎵 “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” that deserve even more love.

Appears in 🔻:

• Aretha Franklin, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 102 (2023)
• Incredible Songs: 1980s, Vol. 3 (2023)

5. Commodores, “Zoom”

 💿 Commodores • 🏷 Motown • 🗓 1977

“Oh, Zoom / I’d like to fly far away from here / Where my mind can be fresh and clear.” Sigh, I feel you 🎙 Lionel Richie! 🎵 “Zoom” is one of the best songs from 🎙 Commodores’ catalog, PERIOD.  It graces the 🏆 Grammy-winning soul collective’s 1977, self-titled album (it was the set’s third single). Notably, Commodores wouldn’t win their sole Grammy until 1985, post-Lionel Richie.  ‘Tis a shame, considering they delivered so many classic cuts in the 70s.  Richie penned “Zoom” alongside 🎼 ✍ Ronald LaPread.  The spectacular, seven minute joint was produced by Commodores and 🎛 James Anthony Carmichael.

The sound of “Zoom” is DEFINITELY a big deal.  It features an epic groove, idiomatic of 70s soul through and through. Also representative of the style is the lush orchestration. It is breathtaking, exquisite, and utterly sublime.  The warmth of the horns and strings is amazing.  Specifically, the signature horn riff gives “Zoom” one of its most memorable and defining moments.  Sampled many times, among the biggest repurposing came via 🎙 Fergie in 2006: 🎵 “All That I Got (The Make Up Song)”. Of course, it’s not all the backdrop, even if it is, celestial.  As always, Lionel Richie is the man in the vocal department.  His clear, nuanced, soulful lead, as well as his pen, made Commodores hard to beat.  He is in tremendous voice on “Zoom” as he seeks happiness.  Not only does he seek happiness for himself, but he wants happiness for the world, too: “I wish the world were truly happy / Living as one / I wish the word they call freedom, someday would come.” The thing is, approaching 50 years later, the world is still longing for happiness and freedom.  Of course, the chorus is where the escapism is ripest.  “Oh, Zoom / I’d like to fly far away from here / Where my mind can be fresh and clear,” he sings in the chorus, continuing, “And I’ll find the love that I long to see / People can be what they wanna be.”  So much more could be said about 🎵 “Zoom” but it’s best to let this glorious music speak for itself.

Appears in 🔻:

• Commodores, Zoom: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 101 (2023)

Zoom: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 55 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Arista, Cub Sport, Epic, Generation Now / Atlantic, Motown; Ethan Sees via Pexels]