Art by Glenn Francis
Evan Nabavian played the triangle for So So Def from 1994-1999
If you needed a duet of feminine brass this summer and you weren’t humbled by the cosmic event that was Beyonce and Nicki Minaj’s “Flawless” remix, then we should talk about “100” by Demetria McKinney and Da Brat. Its message lends itself to a four minute pop song unlike Beyonce’s rebuke to Page Six. Also, it won’t make you feel like a peasant at the base of a marble tower of celebrity.
Demetria McKinney sings in verbal hair flicks and her self-assurance makes thugs quit their fronting. She falls a few rungs lower than Beyonce in the black celebrity hierarchy in her role as Janine on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. Da Brat is one of the protean bad bitches (her words, not mine) who opened the door for Nicki alongside Trina, Lil Kim, and Foxy Brown before hitting the VH1 reality show circuit. Interestingly enough, Da Brat actually appeared on the So So Def remix of “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” by Destiny’s Child before her and Beyonce’s careers branched in slightly different directions.
It’s easy to be cynical about vanity musical projects by athletes and minor celebrities, but there are exceptions (Mack Wilds, “You Can’t Stop The Reign”). On “100”, it’s endearing how two people so far removed from the A-list make such an effective pop song together. Demetria is catchy and confident as she admonishes guys to keep it 100 and Da Brat offers a more than worthy cameo for someone whose rap career expired ten years ago. “100” serves to remind us that fun, accessible songs aren’t solely the province of people with six figure Twitter followings.
