“Give Me Everything” Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack & Nayer (Billboard Hot 100 #13, Week of May 14, 2011)

I think I heard a sneeze in the background on this song, and I’m wondering why that individual didn’t get a featured billing.

Put another way, the artist billing on this record should have read “Ne-Yo & Pitbull.”  The fleeting vocal by Nayer (who is apparently Pitbull’s personal video vixen) and the DJing/production skills of AfroJack, which are pleasant here but hardly showstopping, are far too superfluous for them to receive billing.

And, yes, I put Ne-Yo first.  Because I like this record, and it has little to do with Pitbull. True to form, the Cuban-American rapper mumbles a couple of sloppy verses in his signature Latin Ja Rule growl, in roughly the same galloping cadence that he used to relaunch his career two years ago, with another house-y tropical beat backing him, just like on “I Know You Want Me.”

The bright spot here is my boy Ne-Yo, with a silken, delicious hook that is embarrassingly superior to the rest of the record.  Playing off the sparkly disco vibe, Ne-Yo makes this record soar.

I enjoyed Pitbull in his former element.  Paired with rappers and producers just as goofy as he is (see Lil Jon and The Ying Yang Twins), his unfocused boasting works perfectly.  Dressed up in his new, poppier incarnation, the whole look is unflattering.