There's a point where infatuation slips into obsession — when thoughts of a significant other become all-consuming and love develops into an addiction. Dropping references to "8-balling," "jonesing" and "feeling like a junkie," Amp Fiddler's intoxicating "Dope" captures the euphoria and entropy of letting love take over to dangerous extremes.
Grainy, minor-key synth chords crest and collapse amid cardiac backbeats, a wayward and repetitive keyboard riff and melancholy wah-wah guitar cries, all of which evoke the hallucinogenic, apprehensive beauty of Herbie Hancock's heroin-inspired dirge, "Vein Melter."
Fiddler rouses the otherwise comely melody with dissonant wails, shrill sighs and cracked notes. When he sings, "Ooh, baby, I need my fix / I'm 'bout to lose it / I can't go too long / You got me tweakin' / I need to brush off," he builds up an edgy tension, as shadowy background moans rise slowly and intermittently behind Fiddler's desperate exclamations — "Ooh, you woo-oooo me! — before he howls another series of queasy notes and exhales, "I'm so high." Seldom has a contemporary R&B love song sounded so erotic and eerie at the same time.
Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'
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