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Real Badman Never Afraid: Justin Bieber's Xmas album is a vibe

Yep, you read the title correctly. I came across Bieber's Xmas album after my dad told me he read Bieber has done a reggae song. When I played it to him he said "Hmm... you can just about tell it's reggae" (my dad's hardcore reggae fan thankfully).

You may think the same thing but it's the acoustic reggae sound people (namely Bruno Mars and I realised Ed Sheeran's "A-Team" has a hint of it which explains the Shy FX Ackee & Saltfish remix) have adopted. Off-beat guitar strums/stabs/whatever. If you know reggae, you know what I'm on about. If not, it's the pattern of the guitar. Reggae brought that to the mainstream



Gave the rest of the album some burn as I had time to fill. And curiosity got the better of me. Ultimately I'm open-minded to music that likes to hear what's going on in a next genre to mix my meditation, so wondered how the rest would be. I am pleasantly surprised. There are bangers on there. I tweeted that if you close your eyes, it could be a pre-Rihanna battering, tattoo-wearing, swearing, chair-throwing-through-windowing-then-run-out-on-street-topless, Twitter-meltdowning Chris Brown.

First song of the rest to jump out is "Fa La La" which features one of the last of the classic male vocal groups, Boyz II Men. Let me know if this doesn't get a repeat play aka rewind before the end of the track.



Next song is a banging slow jam imaginatively titled "Christmas Eve". Funnily enough, following my tweet about this passing as a Chris Brown album, I find out this song is actually co-written by Mr. Breezy. (Fast forward to the future) Hold tight the September 2012 babies, you were probably conceived over the Christmas period to this song.



Next song is an acoustic number that allows Justin Bieber's autotuned crooning to breathe. How catchy is this one? Although it should be "Justin Bieber featuring Autotune" he has a good tone, ting named sincerity. You know the little gal dem will go wild for this tune here



The rest is filled with some duds, namely All I Want For Christmas. Mariah babes, you've got to stop pimping this song. The original version isn't going anywhere and for that we are grateful. Stop re-making it. Second year in-a-row now love. Drummer Boy with Busta Rhymes is dry too. Others are alright. Get it for your little female cousins them. He has neat little melodies, good beat selection, lyrics ain't really for me but I understand the vibe.

"This Christmas" featuring The Band Perry is a nice little vibe too. Proper cheesy in all honesty.



As a bonus, I came across The Band Perry yesterday. They're an American country group (I think), the lead singers voice is beautiful. Somber, honest and does an excellent job at getting the melancholy song across.

"A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar,
They're worth so much more after I'm a gonna,
And maybe you'll hear the words I've been singing
Funny when you're dead how people start listening" is a great lyric you'd hear on a classic rock song in a gruff, Southern drawl.

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