30 Favourite RedOne Songs

By Waiching 

Nadir Khayat, known by his stage name as RedOne, is a multi-Grammy award-winning Morrocan-Swedish music producer, lyricist and record executive of RedOne, his self-titled label. He has worked with many high-profile singers such as Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and cites ABBA, Europe and Roxette as his main musical influences. His U.S breakthrough came in the form of 'Whine Up' that was recorded by Kat Deluna; from then on, he produced nine of the songs for her debut LP. It wasn't until the year 2008 when RedOne launched Lady Gaga's career with Just Dance, Bad Romance, Pokerface and LoveGame. In 2012, he said, in an interview, his initial goal was to find the next Madonna or Britney (Spears), and with that came Lady Gaga. 

Before the arrival of Timberland and RedOne, mass pop audiences, particularly those used to the Cheiron and Max Martin euro-pop formula, never quite bought into the type of dance music that seemed more in line with Ibiza clubs. With energetic club beats and melodies, RedOne, as well as Lady Gaga, was heralded by Merck Mercuradis for single-handedly putting electronic dance music on the radio & changed the sound of pop music for more than a decade.

His hard work and dedication paid off and from the late 2000s until early-late 2010s, RedOne churned out song after song; although arguably, compared to say Max Martin and Norwegian song makers, Stargate, he doesn't quite have a prolific record of big hits and chart successes as his other Scandinavian counterparts.

 

''The projects I had success with were through the major label machine, but it's difficult to do it on your own; it isn't as easy as it sounds.''

He had a good run up until 2012 - where without Lady Gaga, he turned to J-lo, but his subsequent follow-ups haven't truly blown up.

I did enjoy Backstreet Boys' Straight Through My Heart, however, as well as some of Austin Mahone's efforts; Mahone, himself, was marketed as RedOne's answer to another young-then teen pop heartthrob, Justin Bieber, and the song, Kings and Queens by Ava Max has shades of late 2000s Lady Gaga. & there are several songs & dishonourable mentions of RedOne's that if I were to hear them on the radio, I'd walk away (J-Lo's On The Floor, Enrique Iglesias's I Like It, Mohombi's insufferable In My Head which samples The Cranberries' Zombie & Marc Anthony & Pitbull's Rain Over Me - I just don't like their compositions). 

Other than that, I'd say he is all right. His sound has evolved, or be changed a great deal over time. At times, this works for some of those songs, yet not so for other songs. And Nadir lacks the pedigree of Max Martin (& Max Martin in the Cheiron era), of whom for me along with Brit producers, Stock Aitken and Waterman, were each notably consistent in their roll out of chart pop hits and successes.

This is a rundown of 30 of my favourite songs that he has produced and recorded:

1. Alejandro - Lady Gaga, 2010

 

2. Kings & Queens - Ava Max, 2020; written and produced by Redone, this has Lady Gaga vibes and could have been a song for circa 2009 Lady Gaga  

3. Papi - Jennifer Lopez, 2011

4. Mistreat Me (You'll Be Sorry) - Emilia de Poret, 2001 

5. Run The Show - Kat DeLuna feat. Busta Rhymes, 2007 

 

 

6. In The End - Kat DeLuna, 2007

7. Feel What I Feel - Kat DeLuna, 2007

 

8. Party O'Clock - Kat DeLuna, 2010

9. Dirty Dancing - NKOTB, 2008 

 

10. If I Knew Then - Backstreet Boys, 2009; my favourite from their 'This Is Us' LP 

11. Do Me Right - Mohombi, 2011

12. Fight For You - Jason Derulo, 2010; samples Toto's Africa 

 

13. Save You Tonight - One Direction, 2011

14. Bumpy Ride - Mohombi, 2010

 

15. Turn Me On - Kevin Lyttle, 2003 (Dancehall version); made the top 5 charts across several countries including Italy, the U.S. and the U.K.

16. Slam - A*Teens, 2002 

17. 

18. Can't fight this love - Austin Mahone, 2014 

 

19. The One I've Waited For - Austin Mahone, 2014  

 

20. Paper Gangsta - Lady Gaga, 2008

 

21. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga, 2009

22. LoveGame - Lady Gaga, 2008 

 

23. Hair - Lady Gaga, 2011 

24. Hypnotico - Jennifer Lopez, 2011 

25. Straight Through My Heart - Backstreet Boys, 2009 

 

26. What is Love - Darin, 2005

 

27. See U At The Club - Darin, 2005 

 

28. Handle Me - Robyn (RedOne Radio Mix), 2008

 

29. La Cintura - Alvaro Soler, 2018

 

30. Laissons Les Rever - John Mamann, 2014

Honourable mentions: The Way I Love Her - Stanaj, Crash - The Cheetah Girls, Frozen - Tami Chynn, Start Without You - Alexandra Burke feat. Laza Morgan, How We Do It - Now United, Seal It With A Kiss - Prince Royce, Killer Love - Nicole Scherzinger, Killa Love Song - Tami Chynn, ...To The Music - A*Teens, You Don't Hear Me - Darin, All of Your Life (You Need Love) - Backstreet Boys, Rock The House - Kat DeLuna, Automatik - Livvi Franc, Miss Me - Mohombi feat. Nelly, Love In America - Mohombi, Pound The Alarm - Nicki Minaj, Encore Une Fois - Khaled, Till I Find You - Austin Mahone, Next To You - Austin Mahone, We Run The Night - Havana Brown, Automatic - Nicki Minaj, Whip It - Nicki Minaj 

Retro Review: The Parkers (1999)

Duration: 1999 - 2004 (UPN) 

No of seasons: 5

Release date: (U.S) 30 August 1999

DVD release by Visual Entertainment 

Produced by Big Ticket Television/Saradipity Productions

Cast: Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Jenna Van Oy, Ken L., Dorien Wilson, Yvette Wilson

Acting as a spin-off to Moesha, the show initially received mixed reviews and was criticised for its outrageous characters. Co-created by the makers behind Moesha, The Jeffersons and Family Matters, the plot centred on Kim and her mother, Nikki Parker studying at Santa Monica jr college and earning their degrees. After becoming a young mother after giving birth to Kim, Nikki dropped out and never got the chance to finish high school, let alone go to college, and with that, the now older-yet none-the-wiser Nikki enrols at the same college as her daughter. Though it is not groundbreaking by any means, as a genuine comedy, The Parkers was broad and accessible enough that it managed to put a smile on my face, as well as make me laugh several times. 

Entertainment-wise, it was also one of the better sitcoms that didn't come from one of the big four networks and was the first spin-off African-American show since A Different World and Family Matters to have a female character as the lead; I have to say I wasn't an avid watcher of Moesha, which was more teen-orientated, but The Parkers got my attention because of the comedic nature it gave off. The running gag with Nikki chasing the Professor, with it, this can be seen in today's lenses as problematic as it glamourises stalking and toxic relationships and characters such as Kim being dumbed down and being a white blonde stereotype. Nikki degraded herself in her attempts to gain Professor Stanley Oglevee's affection. Many sitcoms present the ''will they/won't they'' romance saga involving the male character and female character, with one of them developing their feelings towards the other person - but this is played out in the Parkers with the rejection element construed as obsessive, degrading, desperate and way out of line through Nikki's tactics. Tactics of which that had this been a male character going after a female character, words 'restraining order' & 'sexual harassment' would spring to mind. 

As Moesha's slightly ditzy friend, the supporting character, Kim then became the joint lead, as well as breakout character, along with her mother, Nikki and in 1999, UPN launched The Parkers. By 2000, The Parkers emerged as one of cable TV's standout comedy hits during its debut year, at the time when sitcoms on mainstream U.S TV were being phased out in favour of reality TV and dramas. In the U.K, the show aired on weekdays on the then-satellite TV channel, Trouble from 2000 to 2004. The channel, whose key demographic were teenagers and young adults, primarily aired 1990s to 2000s U.S sitcoms. 

There were some problematic episodes; Nikki believing she was pregnant by the professor and of whom was going to trick him into marrying her, and any episode where she was lusting after the professor when he said no multiple times, and some not so good ones, i.e. Stanley's no-good twin brother lusting after Nikki, and Nikki believing it was the professor being in love with her, Kim looking after her niece and her turning out to be the demon spawn from hell from season 1. 

The fact that the personality-devoid Stanley Oglevee treated her badly -and yet somehow, in the end, realises he has feelings for Nikki, that they get together and fall in love and get married. All this after she stalked him and was dogging him for nearly 5 years, that he showed no actual interest in Nikki in the romantic sense and that he hated every minute of her presence. Given everything that has happened and the 'efforts' he went into to stop her from getting anywhere near him, especially when he was dating other women such as Stanley's on/off girlfriend, Veronica, it was... absurd how the writers came to this conclusion. & Nikki dumping the guy who she was about to marry, in Johnny. Of course, many fans wanted Nikki to get together with Johnny, rather than the professor, after being rejected by him time and again - Yet because it is sitcom law the writers had to pair Nikki up with Stanley, as Stanley is one of the main characters, alongside Nikki. Nikki was clingy and Stanley was a jerk: they had no emotional connection with one another, - and still, according to the writers opposites attract, somewhat as they try to convince us that Stanley was made for Nikki. 

The mother-daughter combo dynamic, with the casting of Mo'Nique and Countess Vaughn, worked better than the professor/Nikki storyline, as it evolves over time. Nikki realising that Kim is no longer little anymore and is old enough to take care of herself and Kim seeing to that Nikki has a whole lot more to offer than just being her mum; aside from that, overall, it was hilarious and amusing. But when it tried to be deeply thought-provoking and serious, with Nikki's progression, because of the silly and goofball nature The Parkers elicited, that and the romance storylines with Nikki pursuing/chasing the professor and the T and Stevie thing that felt forced and shoe-horned in, I couldn't take the series seriously enough. Another problematic thing about Nikki was of her s**t-shaming skinny women, which back then was amusing, yet viewing it today, it was pretty cruel and mean in nature. 

The supporting characters, predominately of African-American actors and actresses and stars, were good, Stevie and T, who together with Kim were Freestyle Unity, an R&B musical outfit. Jenna Van Oy, who made a name with audiences on the 1990s' teen sitcom, Blossom played the token character in the rich girl, Stevie, and whilst she didn't have a major impact, thanks to Van Oy's portrayal, she still made Stevie one of the few likeable characters during its five-season reign; she was acerbic, witty - yet smart. Ken's T was the smooth operator, cool cat; if Stevie was the token White girl, T was the only male member of Freestyle Unity, and one who wasn't a male chauvinist. The late Yvette Wilson, who played the level-headed Andell, was relatively good. Unlike Moesha, The Parkers' outlandish and over-the-top screwball comedy vibe, reminiscent of that of I Love Lucy, and Fox's Martin attracted Black audiences, particularly with younger Black viewers. 

Whilst the wackiness and absurdist comedy will take some viewers out, for other audiences in search of laughs and humour, The Parkers is, nonetheless, occasionally silly and hilarious, with its nutty, screwball approach to sitcoms; many of which tend to go down the serious route through its storylines. It is a different show compared to its predecessor, Moesha; it's arguably more entertaining with more emphasis placed on generating laughs, although the last few episodes of the final season of The Parkers steered the series not quite so in the wrong direction, - rather it headed in a direction that by the last episode, it practically ran out of steam, as well as with an ending that is in hindsight & regarded by many fans of The Parkers, as one of the worst TV sitcom series finales of all time. 

Everything else was on point, but for the romance part, which I really didn't buy into. When I first watched The Parkers as a 20-year-old, I was more focused on the humour and comedy aspects (which still does it for me), and less so on the messages, the show tries to convey - nowadays with 'woke' culture, what seemed to be harmless back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, isn't socially acceptable today and is, therefore, not only open to interpretation, but it is also questionable as well.

With all that being said, as a TV show, The Parkers was and still is a whole lot of fun and it was anything but dull. 

Waiching 

Season ratings:

Season 1: 8
Season 2: 8.5
Season 3: 8.5 
Season 4: 8
Season 5: 8

Final score (out of 10): 8.5