Post-Timbaland, it sometimes seems like r&b and hip-hop producers are competing to see who can make the craziest-sounding hit. As a song, Usher's return with "Yeah!" (and, um, "Lovers & Friends") collaborator Ludacris is a hyperactive mess, with jarringly squeaky synths, choppy beats, and even some Battles-esque pitch-shifting at the end of Luda's rhymes. Nor is it encouraging that Usher's "hey hey" on the chorus slightly echoes this year's umpteenth Timbaland cybersex love sound, 50 Cent's meh Justin Timberlake match-up "Ayo Technology" (why not something kinda good, like "Same Girl"?). Still, even at the end of a year with Swizz Beatz' "It's Me Bitches" and Eve's "Tambourine", Usher's Rich Harrison-produced "Dat Girl Right There" sounds excitingly batshit. Especially coming from dudes with a half-dozen Grammies between them

On "Yeah!" and Timberlake's "My Love", the sweet-voiced singer sticks to playing the nice-guy romantic, allowing the guest rapper (whether Luda or T.I.) to provide some id. On "Dat Girl Right There", Usher leans toward lasciviousness right from the start: "Girl, give it up to me," he sings rapidly, in close harmony with himself on what I guess is the prechorus. The escalating melody there makes him sound frantic, more desperate than cool. When Luda comes in to go munchkin-voiced over the object of Ush's vocal contortions-- "Like yeast in the oven she made me rise," the rapper explains-- caution has already been thrown to the winds. But Harrison isn't done. All of a sudden, swooping romantic-ballad strings drop like stage curtains, only to abruptly open up again on the whole futuristic circus. It's hard to say what exactly these guys are up to here, but it's definitely attention-getting. Hell, "SexyBack" didn't make sense at first, either. (via Sean Fennessey's RapidShare blog at Vibe)

Stream:> Usher [ft. Ludacris]: "Dat Girl Right There"
[possibly from a forthcoming album; due in 2008 on Jive/LaFace]