“Cyclone,” by Baby Bash (Featuring T-Pain): A Bumpin’ and Grindin’ Good Time

What follows is a satirical review of a current Top 40 hit.

Coming in at #34 on the February 23 Top 40 chart, “Cyclone” is an effective tribute to some unnamed woman with some legendarily sensual dance moves. “Cyclone” combines an extremely dance-compatible beat and compelling lyrics to paint a very sexy picture.

“Cyclone” is driven by beat that sets a pulse and maintains it throughout. Granted, it is repetitive, but effectively so. Crisp percussion hits, a nice bass line and striking (not whiny) higher set of undertones. An adequate ebb-and-flow of volume also seems to render the song not only fun to dance to, but also amusing to listen to on its own.

The lyrics of “Cyclone” are what sets it apart. The major image in the lyrics (aside from the voluptuous, writhing bodies strewn throughout the music video) is the cyclone. It is an unusual image, but it works very well. Aside from the magnitude of rotation embodied by cyclones, the image works on a much more subtle level as well. The fact that cyclones are not native to the United States (their North American counterparts, hurricanes, rotate in the opposite direction), shows the audience that the object of the song transcends modern expectations of female hip-hop gyration. It is a brilliant bit of creativity that contributes to the song’s popularity.

Other lines in the song are integral to its success. The primary refrain of the song involves an unusual stress on the syllables “night” (as in “all night long”) and “light” (as in “spotlights on”). The mid-phrase emphases are not awkward—rather, they cause the lines to stick in the audience’s heads and establish he melody of the song.

As important as the words are, the non-word vocalizations also play an important part in the effectiveness of the piece. Late in the song, the speaker sings, “She must be looking like “eer reer reer reer…” These onomatopoeias are put in place of actual words show that the speaker is so mesmerized by the “mighty cyclone” that he can’t find words to express his desire.

What review would be complete without a brief discussion of the oddball euphemisms and comparisons that mark so many hip-hop favorites? One such figure of speech that enters into the lyrics is the image of the dancer “[getting] lower than a muffla.” An employment of the word “fuego” (Spanish, of course, for “fire”) speaks to the heat that the dancer inspires in the speaker. Perhaps the best use of this hip-hop lingo is in the lines, “The way she move her body/She might see the Maserati” which is not only a statement of the speaker’s “bling-bling,” but also an obvious euphemism for his penis, which he hopes to unleash on the object of the song.

“Cyclone,” by Big Bash (featuring T-Pain) turns a fine beat and catchy, sensual lyrics into a popular nationwide hit. It has the makings of a work that will remain a hit in elite urban clubs, not to mention Old House, for some time to come.

I suppose the only proper lyrics to accompany this post are those of its subject: "Cyclone," by Baby Bash, feat. T-Pain

"O-oh (O-oh)
O-oh (O-oh)
O-oh (O-oh)

Swanananani (nanani, nanani, nanani)

Ay-ay! A mighty cyclone!

[Chorus: Mikael]
She moves her body like a cyclone
And she makes me wanna do it all night long
Whoo!
Going hard when they turn the spotlights on
Because she moves her body like a cyclone
Ay!
Just like a cyclone
Whoo!

She moves her body like a cyclone
And she makes me wanna do it all night long
Whoo!
Going hard when they turn the spotlights on
Because she moves her body like a cyclone
Ay!
A mighty cyclone!


[Baby Bash:]
Now look at that peppa'
On the back of that bumpa'
She aint even playin
When she's shakin that ruppa'
And oh, you aint know?
She gets lower than a muffla'
Even with her girlfriends
Show stopping with a hustla'

The way she move her body
She might see the Maserati
She wanna put it on me
Tryna show me her tsunami
She make it hard to copy
Always tight, never sloppy
And got an entourage
And her own paparazzi

Now there she go again
Ridin through the stormy weatha'
You betta button up
If you wanna go get her
Cause it is what it is

Errybody wanna love her
But when she pop it boy
You better run for cover
Ay-ay!

[Chorus]

[Baby Bash:]
(See it's a wrap) when she break them boys off a typhoon
(It's a wrap) gotta get that phatty like a boss tycoon
(It's a wrap) now hold it steady cause she make a monsoon
(It's a wrap) now you can Google, download the iTunes

See what I'm sayin
She aint playin
Yeah, she got them heads turnin
You gon' hear it clack, clack
When them heels get to burnin
Stiletto so fuego
She got her own label
And got us all doin the tornado
Ay-ay!

[Chorus]

[T-Pain:]
Ay! Ay!
Shawty got looks (and)
Shawty got class
Shawty got hips (and)
Shawty got ass
When she hit the stage
She drop it down low, like
Eer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer

Ay!
This is cra-ZZYYYY!
It's ama-ZINGGGG!
It must be the way of the la-DYYYY!
(Like) Eer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer
Oh-oh!

[Chorus]

[Outro: T-Pain]
Eer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer
Eer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer
Eer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer reer
Reer
Oh-oh!"