You ever hear a tune and instantly assume, “Oh yeah, this one’s about to be in all places?” That’s precisely how I felt the primary time I heard “Neglect About You”, the most recent single from American Idol alums Ajii and Wé Ani. It’s moody, it’s vibey, and it’s obtained that good mixture of heartbreak and swagger that makes for a really unforgettable breakup anthem.
Ajii, who wowed audiences on Idol Season 22 together with his genre-blending performances, groups up with Wé Ani, who made waves in Season 21 (and The Voice earlier than that). Collectively, they’ve created one thing particular—a monitor that’s catchy, emotional, and stuffed with replay worth.
First issues first, let’s speak concerning the manufacturing. This tune knocks. Producer Alex Poeppel offers us a slick, trendy beat infused with what Ajii described as a Jersey membership vitality, which makes it unattainable to sit down nonetheless whereas listening. The pulsing rhythm and layered melodies make it a kind of tracks that really feel contemporary but additionally timeless—you possibly can hear it enjoying in a dimly lit membership, in a automobile at night time, or by your AirPods whereas staring dramatically out the window.
And let’s not ignore the hook. In the future I, I’ll neglect about you… It’s easy, it’s hypnotic, and it’s going to be caught in your head for days. There’s one thing concerning the repetition that feels nearly therapeutic, like chanting it sufficient instances will truly make the heartbreak fade away. (Spoiler: It gained’t, nevertheless it will make you are feeling cooler whereas coping with it.)
Ajii’s verse is available in clean however heavy, setting the tone for the emotional push and pull of the tune. His traces—
“I don’t wanna speak with no one
And stroll with no one
They obtained nothing on you…”
—hit deep as a result of we’ve all been there. That post-breakup stage the place everybody else simply feels meh compared to the one particular person you possibly can’t shake? Yeah, that.
Then Wé Ani is available in and utterly modifications the vitality. If Ajii’s verse is sulking in heartbreak, Wé’s is straight-up calling it out.
“As I recall, I used to be your Barbie doll
Confirmed me off and all
Blood and all…”
Whew. She snaps on this verse. You may really feel the frustration, the exhaustion, the I’m-so-over-this-but-also-maybe-not. Her supply is sharp and exact, including a fiery distinction to Ajii’s smoothness. It’s the sort of back-and-forth dynamic that makes you are feeling such as you’re eavesdropping on a real-life dialog between two exes who nonetheless have a bit of an excessive amount of to say.
After which, simply whenever you assume the tune has stated every thing it must, that third verse brings each voices collectively in probably the most obsessive, poisonous, and trustworthy method doable:
“Want you once I’m on that rum
You recognize I’m one for one
I would like you unhealthy like a lung
Child I don’t breathe for enjoyable…”
It’s messy, it’s dramatic, and it’s actual.
It wouldn’t be stunning if this tune blows up on TikTok the identical method different Idol alums like Francisco Martin have leveraged the app-based platform to achieve large audiences. It’s the right mixture of earworm melodies and relatable feelings that make songs stick in at present’s streaming-heavy world.
Ajii and Wé Ani are proving that you simply don’t need to win American Idol to win within the music business. Their voices are dynamic, their chemistry is plain, and Neglect About You is strictly the sort of monitor that may catapult them to the subsequent degree.
So in the event you haven’t listened but—what are you ready for? Flip it up, sing alongside, and in the event you’ve obtained an ex lingering in your head, nicely… this would possibly simply be the tune that lastly helps you neglect about them.
Mindy McCall
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