Terrible Song of the Day: JoJo - "Beautiful Girls Reply"

Because you can't truly appreciate the sweet without the bitter, today's song of the day is a terrible one: teen R&B sensation JoJo and her cover/response to Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls".

Kingston's original was a gigantic summer 2007 hit, built on a sample of Ben E. King's immaculate "Stand By Me". A catchy if uninventive lament on foxy ladies who always seem to break your heart, the tune was almost inescapable, stirring up controversy over Kingston's mention of suicide ("You'll have me suicidal...when you say it's over"). But it was far from a misogynistic rant, so why was a reply "from the ladies" deemed necessary?

Probably because unleashing her sass on hapless guys is JoJo's favorite thing to do. The titles of her two biggest hits—2004's "Leave (Get Out)" and 2006's "Too Little Too Late"—provide sufficient proof. To Kingston's "You're way too beautiful, girl/That's why it'll never work," JoJo rejoins: "I'm way to cool for ya, boy/That's why it'll never work." Touché? Not really.

"Beautiful Girls Reply" was released via JoJo's Myspace page in the summer of 2007 to capitalize on the Kingston original's success. Too bad it's a rote exercise, the answer to a question that nobody asked. A horrifying example of musical inanity begetting inanity.