"Easy" is a 1989 song by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, Italy based

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

artist

Ice MC Ice MC (born Ian Campbell, 22 March 1965) is a British rapper who started his professional music career in Italy when he got signed to Robyx and made his debut with the single " Easy". He's best known for the Eurodance hit singles " Take Away ...

. It features vocals by German singer Jasmine Heinrich and is his first single, produced by Italian music producer and composer

Roberto Zanetti Roberto Zanetti (born 28 November 1956) is an Italian singer and music producer from Massa, Tuscany. As a singer, he is known under the stage name Savage and as a music producer he uses the alias Robyx. In 1989, he recorded " I Just Died in Yo ...

. Released as the lead single from the album, ''Cinema'', it enjoyed success all over Europe, reaching the Top 5 in Italy and Switzerland, and the Top 3 in Spain (number two) and West Germany (number three). In the US, it peaked at number four on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Video Rap Chart. There were made two different versions of the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song.

Critical reception

Bill Coleman from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote, "First strains of influence by

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli were a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, '' All or Nothing'' in Europe, reconfigured as ''Girl You Know It's True'' in ...

s chart dominance are felt on this pop-slanted

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

track." David Giles from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' described it as a "pleasant rap/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

collaboration, and in places there is even a hint of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

toasting in the vocals." He added, "Lyrically it appears to be an opportunity to namecheck all Ice's favourite musical styles and artists, but cryptic enough to keep us guessing." A reviewer from ''The Network Forty'' commented, "Imagine a rap song produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

, featuring lapses of

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. Biography Earl ...

balladering, while Maddy Hayes' secretary murmurs "Real Intellectual Muscle" throughout and you have this innovative new crossover record." Tom Doyle from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' noted the song as "a good rap record which sounds very mean "n" tough in the verses and a bit like Milli Vanilli in the choruses. Very singable and happy."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{authority control 1989 songs 1989 debut singles Ice MC songs English-language Italian songs ZYX Music singles