I often wonder how youth culture thinks up slang for something they like. For example, I wonder how the phrase "out of sight" came along. If something is out of your sight, how do you know it's good?
I also wonder where this New York musician in business-casual dress and Ray Bans came from.
Outasight's debut single, "Tonight Is the Night," was featured in a Pepsi ad last month, along with appearing on Fox's The X Factor. The ad included clips from earlier Pepsi spokespeople like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. It sounds like a bid to associate their fame with an untested new artist from the show... and Outasight's track. Isn't synergy great?
"Tonight Is the Night" has the '80s throwback sound that indie pop started channeling two years ago, even adding the folky "whoa, whoa, oh" after the refrain. Outasight's inflection sounds a little bored and desperate to sound urban. You will probably hear that nasal refrain "Toonanyg is the nayng" for a while.
The lyrics may spell out why the track sounds stilted. The line "Im'ma have as much fun as I can/and figure out the rest when I etch out a plan" says he didn't really think about it. Outasight strikes me as a young, smug artist that isn't used to challenging himself to make good music just yet.
To borrow another bit of youth slang, this guy isn't "legit." I don't get that usage either; if this generation values authenticity so much that legitimate means good, how come campy and fantastical musicians are still successful?
All I know is I want to keep Outasight out of mind.
