Coco Jones’ star has risen sharply this year. From the runaway success of “ICU” to being crowned Best New Artist at the BET Awards to performing at ESSENCE Fest, Jones has had an incredible run and she’s just warming up. Being that girl, other artists are naturally clamoring to work with her. Count Justin Timberlake as a fan. Before he begins promotion for his next album, the *NSYNC alum joins Jones on the highly anticipated remix to “ICU.”
It’s a Tennessee thing for the pair – Justin is a Memphis native and Coco grew up right outside of Nashville. “Just a couple of Tennessee kids,” he captioned a FaceTime screenshot of them that he posted to Instagram to announce that he was the mystery man who’d be joining her on the remix.
Although the Tennessee connection between Coco and Justin is cute on paper, this remix is better in theory than in actuality. She sounds great with her original first verse and JT sounds like himself on his added verse, but this remix needed a male vocalist with more soulful, robust vocals to match her energy. Unfortunately, this collaboration is more lackluster than blockbuster.
If a male R&B singer with Tennessee roots was what they were looking for, Usher – who was raised in Chattanooga before moving to Atlanta – was right there. However, with the in-demand crooner recently joining Muni Long on her “Hrs & Hrs (Remix),” the timing wasn’t right.
Although the “ICU (Remix)” falls short of its intended effect, Coco Jones is still that girl. She’s a few weeks away from her What I Didn’t Tell You Tour, and her debut album is in the works. While we await all that Coco Jones has in store for us, listen to “ICU (Remix)” and watch its lyric video right here.
