In a wonderful case of ‘anything the USA can do, we can do better’, Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz have made Kanye, Ne-Yo and Akon seem like total novices. If you’d told me a few months ago that I would be excited to hear of a collaboration between Tinchy and N-Dubz, I would certainly not have believed you. I loved the Tinchy/Taio single, but presumed the latter was fully responsible for its aceness, having a far superior track record. Then last month I found myself quite obsessed with the new N-Dubz song, Strong Again, which is the most poptastic thing to come out of UK r&b in quite some time. I also saw them being interviewed on Sound and found them quite entertaining and endearing.
My anticipation was justified as their new duet single, Number One, is brilliant! The section that Mr PJ posted a few days ago is the best bit, as the full track involves a bit too much rap for my liking, but a chorus like that can survive any amount of crap rapping surrounding it. The best bit is when Dappy and Tinchy take turns to say words, which sounds weird but it works. It is a Tinchy single overall, and sounds quite like Take Me Back. Tinchy and N-Dubz are two of the biggest names in UK r&b right now, and with a song like this, they are definitely going to win over lots of new fans. This is going to be HUGE, and deservedly so!