"The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas

Ironically, the Black Eyed Peas were late to the cover shoot

"The Time (Dirty Bit)" is based around the chorus hook from "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", the theme song of 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The track gets a club-ready treatment with a four-on-the-floor beat and handful of rap verses.

While the hook is well-chosen, the synth-enhanced rap verses don't line up quite right with its sentiments. The Black Eyed Peas are known for re-contextualizing samples and making them work in new songs, but in this case the difference is too severe: the chorus is a nostalgic, melodic love song, the verses a braggadocio-laden rap-style club stomper.

That said, my main problem with this song is that it lacks the dynamic journey found in previous singles "Imma Be", "I Gotta Feelin" and "Boom Boom Pow". After the second chorus, you've pretty much heard every trick the song has to offer, save for some yawn-inducing beat-slicing that occurs in the final chorus. The Black Eyed Peas can do and have done better.

All in all, this song is much less game-changing than any of the singles from their previous album, The E.N.D. . It's not terrible, but it's disappointing to see such a great hook get such lackluster treatment.

Patrick Swayze is displeased