Power of two: the Ordinary Boys are joining forces with Lady Sovereign for their next single
The Ordinary Boys (or, as they're more familiarly known these days, Preston from Celebrity Big Brother and his backing band) are faced with a situation they couldn't have imagined this time last year. Their profile is the highest it's ever been, thanks to Preston's newfound fame, even if they've sacrificed credibility - and that's the opinion of band members themselves, who worry that the commotion around Preston is detracting from their music.
The Big Brother effect whisked their last single, a re-release of the track Boys Will Be Boys, to number two. But what to do for the next single, which needs to stand on its own merits if the band are to escape Big Brother's shadow? Well, it helps to know someone like Lady Sovereign, the intimidatingly hardcore Wembley grimestress, whose friendship with the Boys has produced a ska/reggae collaboration called Nine2Five. It will be released as the new single on May 22, under the handle Ordinary Boys Versus Lady Sovereign. Check out that "versus," a common rap/dance billing intended to present a song as a hyped-up clash. Grimetastic!
It's the best example in recent months of the unlikely alliances that come about when an act seeks to redefine itself by dueting with someone perceived as cooler, whose credibility will cast a flattering light. The Boys/Sovereign venture actually works pretty well, probably because of the Boys' grounding in ska - at least there's an affinity.
It's the opportunistic couplings, where one party is clearly hoping that a bit of cool will rub off, that are both funny and sad. Did Scary Spice think, when she made a single with Missy Elliott in 1999, that it would open new doors for her? Well, probably. But she didn't win over the rap crowd, any more than Sporty Spice did when she collaborated with TLC's Left Eye the following year, or Duran Duran after working with Melle Mel on a cover of the latter's seminal White Lines. If anything, people wondered what persuaded Elliott, Lopes and Mel to get involved. You would almost assume they did it for the money, if it weren't for the well-documented fact that American rappers are improbably fascinated with certain British artists. Ample proof was provided by a hip-hop tribute album to Phil Collins a couple of years ago, and no, that's not a joke.
In the end, this sort of hook-up, (see also Van Morrison and Cliff Richard, J-Lo and Nas, Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave - though admittedly the latter single was quite wonderful) is a transaction. Popular but unhip acts add a bit of cred to their CV, while people like Nick Cave get exposed to the CD:UK demographic. Not that Cave suddenly acquired a fanbase of 10-year-olds; even a duet with Kylie can't perform miracles.
