Written by Muchacha Motorista

NOW That’s What I Call Party Hits! is “20 chart-topping hits” that can be broken into two, clearly defined groups. There’s one group of songs with lame lyrics but hot beats, and one group of songs with lame lyrics and horrible music too. There is not one song on this album that I can honestly say has good lyrics, no matter if you define “good lyrics” as meaningful lyrics, intelligent lyrics, or even just plan witty lyrics.

I mean, I just can’t say that I get a tear in my eye when Mims sings: “I’m hot coz I’m fly/ You ain’t coz you’re not/ This is why/ This is why/ This is why I’m hot.” And I am not drawn to ponder the deeper meaning of Kelis’: “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard/ And they’re like/ It's better than yours/ Damn right it's better than yours/ I can teach you/ But I have to charge.” These two songs just bring the album down, way down, as do such gems as the lyrical stupidity of “Right Thurr” (Chingy) or Amerie’s “1 Thing” in which the music sounds more like experimental crap with no rhythm to be found or danced to.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I can say that I do know this is an album of PARTY HITS. These aren’t supposed to be songs that make you feel connected to your fellow man, or called to a higher purpose. These are just the songs you hope the DJ pulls out at the company Christmas party in lieu of “Celebration,” “YMCA,” or “Love Shack.” Songs you can really just dance to and have a good time despite being surrounded by your colleagues. That’s why I’d say that if you haven’t download the individual songs on iTunes yet, some of these might be worth the album.