by JAY WATTS III

From “Mambo #5” to “Who Let the Dogs Out?,” summer songs have been a constant and often regrettably ubiquitous feature of our favourite season. Far too rarely does a song like Beyonce and Jay-Z’s “Crazy In Love” come by, built around a lively

Chi-Lites horn sample that defied listener exhaustion. Last summer’s song, Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” was more notable for introducing the reggaeton beat to the mushy middle of the music-lovin’ public than for the song itself, but nonetheless remained a constant on radio and iPod playlists from my block to yours, the Puerto Rican’s gravelly voice heard as often throughout the day as the call to prayer in Muslim countries.

This year, it seems hard to tell what the song of the summer is. TI’s “What You Know” seemed a good candidate, but an early spring release has led to a lot of exhaustion, and my greatest fear is that by the end of the summer, I’ll find myself in the same situation as I did a number of years ago—stuck at the wrong end of a party’s arc, watching a middle-aged substitute teacher nursing a lonely bottle of domestic beer and dancing alone to Outkast’s “Hey Ya.” This time, instead of shaking it like a Polaroid picture, she’ll be attempting some sort of gangster lean.

So, what else? While my editor’s vouching for Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”—and the pedigree is certainly there, Dangermouse and Cee-Lo are both skilled fellows—I’d offer up Plantlife’s “Gangsta Boogie” (http://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com/2006/04/weve-got-dance-called-be-yo-self.html) as an example of what Cee-Lo is capable of, and note how poorly “Crazy” holds up. And what’re you asking me for? Everyone knows that Hot 97 FM in NYC (http://www.hot97.com) controls the summer playlist...

Next week: The full list of summer predictions, with guesses at charting figure to boot.

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