Whenever an artist (or his/her/their management) decides to shelve a song, the question is always raised whether the song was “good enough”. Most artists refuse comment on these tracks, simply treating them as if they never existed. In the case of Japanese pop/R&B diva Namie Amuro’s Put ‘Em Up, however, the reason was actually made public. Originally recorded in 2000 as a duet between Amuro and TLC member Chilli (and written by TLC’s producer Dallas Austin), the song was inexplicably cancelled and sent to the unreleased pile. It was then set to be included as the only new song on her second best-of (LOVE ENHANCED - single collection, 2002), but was again shelved. It was finally released in 2003, but the public didn’t respond well, as the single is Amuro’s lowest-selling to date, peaking at #7 on the Oricon and moving only 41,149 copies.

Why this single sold so poorly is beyond me. One can make the argument that it sounds “too Western”, but by this point in her career, Amuro had already taken the first steps to cementing her newfound style with the SUITE CHIC project and her own solo singles. Perhaps the Japanese public just didn’t like it, which is perfectly okay, as the song’s not for everyone. Opening with a chorus of male voices chanting the song’s title (amid some electrical-sounding energy and a nice little string section), Put ‘Em Up transitions into a fast R&B number driven by a stomp-clap drumbeat, a bass line that’s set down and performed by strings (giving the song an atypical production for its genre), and some randomly-generated keyboard effects. Amuro’s performance in this track is different from her others, as she utilizes her lower register exclusively, delivering the lines at such a speed that it sounds, at times, like she’s rapping rather than singing (a technique possibly picked up during her time in SUITE CHIC). This could possibly be seen as a demerit, as it’s a technique that lends itself to a rather repetitive style, but given the song’s rather-repetitive nature (a problem in itself to others who’ve reviewed the single) I find it to be perfectly all right. This is kind of like Amuro’s Frankenstein – some will like it, and some will find it a bit hard to swallow. I’m in the former camp, as it’s not a bad song by any means, getting stuck in one’s head easily.

The B-side, exist for you, is a completely different number. Still R&B, the song is instead a soft, gentle ballad founded on a slow drum beat, simple keyboard line, chimes, and a lilting acoustic guitar line. As a song structure, it’s cliche as all get out and typical of many R&B ballads, but Amuro gives the song some much-needed life and originality, performing it with passion and heart (her wrenching “Up to someone’s hea-a-art!” in the pre-chorus works incredibly well), which many see as absent from the track it’s coupled with. It’s certainly a pretty song, and Amuro performs it well, but I wish she would have done a little more; in the chorus she resorts to playing call-and-response with her backup (who perform most of the major lines) and instead ad-libs for most of it, something she isn’t really all that good at. As well, the bridge’s simple “la la la” repetition, while nice, seems unnecessary – an instrumental solo would’ve worked just as well – and the addition of the “la la la” line underneath everything else near the song’s end makes the production a bit too busy for a ballad. It’s nice, but not all that impressive.

Amuro’s ill-fated twenty-third single may not have sold well, but that lies on the shoulders of the public, who didn’t embrace it as I did. Neither track is groundbreaking or original, but Amuro performs them competently (and, in the case of the title track, with a vocal technique she’s not used since) and they both have their merits. While things could have been done to make this single better as a whole, it’s not terrible as is. Recommended.

Namie Amuro: “Put ‘Em Up”
[ CDS | AVCD-30467 | ¥1,050 | 2003.07.16 ]

01. Put ‘Em Up [ 4:03 ]
02. exist for you [ 4:19 ]
03. Put ‘Em Up (Instrumental) [ 4:03 ]
04. exist for you (Instrumental) [ 4:17 ]

[ http://www.avexnet.or.jp/amuro/index02.html ]

Other Namie Amuro Reviews:

break the rules (2002)
Queen of Hip-Pop (2005)

Recommended: Yes