“My Lucky Song” by JoZie

Pop music, especially in 2022, is about more than frills. As a genre on the American side of the world, pop has become much more elaborate and constructive than it was some fifteen years ago, inviting influences from the postmodern and surreal world into a melting pot of melodies already more colorful than anything else on the FM dial, and looking to contribute a verse to this exciting play of passions this winter is none other than JoZie. JoZie’s new single “My Lucky Song” touches on classic pop beats but steers clear of the simplistic vocal techniques we’ve come to associate with the more saccharine of the genre, and from where I sit, it’s a potential breakthrough hit. First off, the most obvious element you’d hear in a typical mainstream pop single – a well-polished bassline – is entirely missing from “My Lucky Song;”

instead, we’re given an inelegant bass that pushes around the percussion like a bouncer outside of a nightclub. Rather than this challenging the streamlined verse JoZie puts forward, it gives her something to wrestle with ahead of the chorus, ultimately showcasing how versatile a singer she can be even when she’s in charge of the tempo and tone. 

JoZie isn’t waiting around for a synthesized boost into the hook here, but crushing the groove with a savage attack of the verses that a lot of players (at this stage of the game) would be too intimidated by to try. She’s not afraid of anything when she’s got the microphone in her hands, and if she were, I don’t think that the uncompromising confidence she uses to get into the best parts of this track would be as accessible to the audience as it is in every moment of “My Lucky Song.” She has every right to be a little arrogant here, but she refrains and still winds up sounding like an elite artist well on her way to primetime. 

As much as the bass has a dirty, rough edge to it, this master mix is seriously punchy and has more of an unfiltered feel than I’m used to reviewing in this strain of pop music. Again, the oddities are working to JoZie’s advantage in a couple of ways here, chief among them being that she’s playing like a boss in the most unpredictable of circumstances while relentlessly teasing us with possibilities not yet realized in her discography. Call her a tease if you want, but this is the best intro she could have mustered up this year. 

It’s as competitive an era in pop music as it’s ever been before, but the rarified passion JoZie is producing “My Lucky Song” with is going to bring this young artist a lot of praise from critics and fans alike. Aptly-titled and performed by a player who has all the right attributes to make a name for herself on either side of the dial, I think this single is just what the contemporary pop scene needs (along with its stylish creator, of course). 

Mindy McCall