Selena Gomez, “Whiplash”

by Blanca Mendez

I know it’s totally not cool for a woman to hold a grudge against a teenager, but I’ll admit that I had a more than tiny one against Selena Gomez until very recently. Before you judge me, let me explain myself. I had valid reasons for my distaste, I swear! One, Gomez is the reason that I can no longer Google the Real Selena by just typing “Selena” in the search box, and that is deeply offensive to me. Two, she was the star of a TV show that was a blatant ripoff of Harry Potter. Girl messed with two things that are very dear to me. Not to mention, she was all kinds of wrong for the role of Beezus, am I right?

But I’ve been listening to the singles for her upcoming album, When the Sun Goes Down, and, while they aren’t exactly brilliant, they definitely satisfy my need for songs to make me feel better about my hour-long commute. The best track I’ve heard so far is the one that’s been floating around the internet today. Written by Britney Spears(!), “Whiplash,” which didn’t quite make the cut for Femme Fatale, works really well for Gomez’s voice. The song’s got some great beats and some fun talk-singing bits that Gomez executes perfectly, especially the “hello, dahling.” Though not quite at the level that I need for a full-fledged strut song, “Whiplash” is more than sassy enough for dance-walking to Subway for lunch.

Blanca Méndez is a freelance writer and podcast producer based in Chicago. She regularly contributes to the Latin American music blog Club Fonograma.