Najjah Calibur’s “I’m Good”

Hitting us with a rock beat right off the top of the track, Najjah Calibur’s “I’m Good” has vicious energy that immediately lets us know what kind of a rager we’re in for in the next three minutes and change. Calibur’s vocal hasn’t even come into the mix yet, and the opening bars of this song already have us banging our heads to the groove, anticipating a powerful eruption of musicality akin to what you might hear in a full-blown arena rock show. “I’m Good” features lyrical soul and melodic fluidity akin to simple pop, but its foundation is wholeheartedly metallic, potent, and as strong as an ox.

The guitar element in this single is really big, but it doesn’t drown out the voice of one Najjah Calibur for anything. One of the reasons why “I’m Good” works as well as it does is its ferocious combination of tuneful melodicism and unbending intensity from the instrumentation, and while the two elements should contrast in theory, they play together rather beautifully in practice. This is a tremendous crossover, but it sounds a lot more streamlined and drawn together by formula than what I usually hear in a pop hybrid of any kind.

Make no mistake about it; the lead vocal in this song is absolutely the most anthemic and important part of the track. When this singer is going after the hook, you can tell that he’s got nothing else on his mind, and this unclouded focus yields some of the more creative and exciting moments in the whole of the song. I want to hear what he can do at different tempos and with edgier harmonies, mostly because of how well he’s able to construct an anthem out of a relatively straightforward piece of material in “I’m Good.”

The sway of the rhythm gets us in sync with the drums right out of the gate, and it reminds me a lot of the hair metal vibe that brought so many people to big stadium concerts back in the 1980s. Calibur has the same panache, the same willingness to throw flamboyance into a piece just for the sake of the moxie rather than the camp associated with a certain aesthetic, and if his experimentations are already bringing this kind of attitude into focus, I wonder how much he could get out of an even deeper composition with more detail beyond what this 3:16 running time can afford.

Shades of classic rock and alternative R&B are the order of the day in “I’m Good,” and fans of either school would be wise to take note of Najjah Calibur as they plan out a summer playlist fit for parties and chill afternoons the same. The rock element here is the bread and butter of the song, but the melodicism in Calibur’s voice suggests a much grander spectrum of stylistic integrity than what most rock bands are turning out these days. I’m game for more of this content, and I think you’re going to see why when you listen to “I’m Good.”

Mindy McCall