‘Airplanes’ was just the beginning of B.o.B.’s interest in aeronautics. He later attempted to raise $1,000,000 for satellites and weather balloons to verify that Earth is flat.
8/10
Airplanes—B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
Topped the NZ charts for 5 weeks, starting on 10 May 2010.
More about my NZ number #1 project.
B.o.B.
Bobby Ray Simmons is the son of a pastor and grew up in Georgia. He played trumpet in high school, but dropped out when he landed a record deal. After a series of mixtapes, his debut album featured a stunning array of guest stars, including Janelle Monae, Rivers Cuomo, Bruno Mars, and Paramore’s Hayley Williams.
Like fellow Atlanta rapper Andre 3000 (of Outkast), B.o.B.’s hip hop is at the poppy end of the spectrum. His flow is smooth and melodic, and he brings in pop singers to sweeten up the hooks.
Airplanes
B.o.B, Jeremy “Kinetics” Dussolliet, Tim “One Love” Sommers, DJ Frank E, Alex “da Kid” Grant, and Christine Dominguez wrote ‘Airplanes’.
Hayley Williams agreed to sing the hook when a record executive asked “Would you ever do a feature on a hip-hop record?” She agreed, saying “I was like, duh, to be one of those voices. The life goal.”
Williams thought she was working with Lupe Fiasco. She learned shortly before the song’s release that it had been given to a rising hip-hop star from Atlanta. The pair first met when they performed the song together at the MTV Music Awards – they recorded their vocals and the video seperately.
My Verdict
It’s lightweight, but it’s hard not to like this smooth piece of hip-hop. B.o.B’s voice meshes nicely with Williams, and it’s wistful and pretty.
The aftermath
B.O.B. has continued to make music, although he hasn’t enjoyed a hit single since 2013. His reputation as a conspiracy theorist and flat-earther probably hasn’t helped his sales.
In January 2016, B.o.B expressed the belief that the Earth is flat. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson responded to B.o.B on Twitter and attempted to persuade him that the Earth is round, but the rapper refused to retract his views and accused NASA of avoiding questions, while releasing a diss track against Tyson.
Wikipedia
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