Entertainment

Her Catchy New Single Samples Whitney Houston

by Alex Kritselis

New music alert: Up-and-coming singer Natalie La Rose just dropped "Somebody," her infectious Jeremih-assisted debut single, a few weeks ago, but it's already starting to catch on. On Friday, Billboard named the feel-good song one of "tomorrow's hits," citing early support from radio stations in New York and San Diego. Could "Somebody" become La Rose's breakthrough track? I think so! According to Billboard, La Rose got her start in the music industry when she approached rapper Flo Rida at an ESPY Awards after party in 2011 and told him plainly that "they were going to work together." It was certainly a bold move, but it paid off: since then, the Amsterdam-born artist has performed with Flo Rida at concerts all over the world and is currently signed to his International Music Group (I.M.G.) record label.

Admittedly, "Somebody" owes a significant portion of its appeal to Whitney Houston (it features an interpolation of her No.1 hit, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," during the chorus), but it's not without its own charms. The bouncy beat is pretty much irresistible, and Jeremih sounds so smooth singing the hook. Strangely enough, "Somebody" isn't much of a showcase for La Rose. If the track takes off, she'll definitely need to do a better job of establishing her own unique personality on her follow-up single.

On "Somebody's" first verse and pre-chorus, La Rose sings:

Walk in, everybody know what's good

But some gon' hate what's new

We just do our thing, no time to waste

Always play it cool

And at the end of the night when the lights go out, will we turn down?

Oh no we won't

(Jeremih: We ain't never turning down, we ain't never turning down...)

And when you try to make us leave

We turn and say, "We never going home."

(Jeremih: And you know just what I wanna do...)

Jeremih takes over completely on the chorus:

I wanna rock with somebody

I wanna take shots with somebody

I wanna leave with somebody

And we ain't gotta tell nobody

We ain't gotta tell nobody

I mean, it's not exactly Shakespeare, but it sure is catchy! If nothing else, "Somebody" will remind you of just how awesome and timeless "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" truly is. However, I suspect that you'll fall under the new song's spell — at least for a little while, anyway. It's major ear candy.

"Somebody" is available on iTunes now.