Kelly Rowland feat. Trey Songz, Busta Rhymes & Fabolous - Motivation Remix (off Motivation RMX 12”, 2011, white label)
Ashley Horner’s film brilliantlove falls apart whenever it remembers its laborious plot - really, British filmmakers need to find a way to deal with the machinations of the modern art world with some sort of nuance - but is great at depicting a mostly-healthy sexual relationship between, get this, a couple that likes each other. And has sex! That’s a real thing!
There’s a scene where Manchester (Liam Browne) is seduced by a wide-eyed Noon (Nancy Trotter Landry) in the insanely phallic image that you can see here (nsfw), moving to the couple kissing and.. (You can guess the rest.) I saw brilliantlove at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2010 and haven’t felt the desire to see it since but this scene has stuck in my head ever since that viewing. It’s an incredibly explicit moment that also recognises the characters’ physical and mental connection… as well as the absurdity of the foreplay.
I think of this scene every time I hear Kelly Rowland’s recent “Motivation” remix. The original is one of the slinkiest, simple songs about sex in recent memory, switching back-and-forth between winking innuendo (“go longer, you can last more rounds”) and wide-eyed, direct demands (“when we’re done/I don’t wanna feel my legs”) that feels surprisingly romantic. Perhaps we’re so used to most r’n’b megahits being one-dimensional about sex that it shakes us to hear Rowland’s “you can do it, I believe in you” in there, making sure we don’t forget there’s two people at the centre of this song who are powered by more than just their carnal needs. (I’ll take this moment to point you in the direction of Maura’s awesome crackdown on modern r’n’b hatazzzz.)
The recent remix tacks on to the track the following remix professionals: Bus-A-Bus, ”Mr Steal Your Girl” Trey Songz and champion-of-ladies-songs Fabolous. It’s a regular radio remix on paper. However, it’s one that doesn’t tarnish or overshadow Rowland’s aim with the original “Motivation” but instead ramps up the guests’ goofiness, making it surprisingly even more romantic. Busta speed-raps about how he’s ready to meet his partner’s mother, Fab puns “I follow what you’re sayin’, you ain’t gotta Twitter shit” to hide his puppy-dog enthusiasm, and Trey promises he’s going to work harder in bed for his woman. (Holy shit.) The song never tips over into crassness with these three alpha males piled on top (PAUSE), but understands that the silly bone is integral to a sexual relationship. It’s nice to have sex presented as more than the one dimension for once, and it’s surprising when artists go the extra mile and give it layers.
