Writers: Amerie, Rich Selton, Loren Hill, Kevin Venney, Isaac Hayes, and David Porter
Producers: One Up

I've realized that, in my humble opinion, most of today's R&B listeners wouldn't know good music if it came up, pimp-slapped them, and said "Where's my money at?". Kelis was dropped from her record label, but someone allowed Keyshia Cole and her goat-like vibrato and hoodrat antics to make another album. I've had to suffer through Beyonce's half-a**ed songs since 2006, which some blogs I read have praised. Those same bloggers also panned Amerie's new album Because I Love It (which has been released everywhere but the US because SonyBMG have their heads too far up their a**es), because it's different. She expands her DC go-go sound--that Beyonce took and "made her own"--to incorporate aspects of '60s soul and '80s pop, and creates what several have called the best R&B album, and one of the best overall albums of 2007.

The lyrics of "Gotta Work" may not be the best, but they work well for this song. The positive lyrics allow the beat to do most of the heavy-lifting. The beat, which pretty much turns Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming" into a go-go song, is freaking amazing. Seriously, I dare you to close your door, close your blinds, play this song, and resist dancing like a fool. I can see why people would call out the similarities to "1 Thing", but that certainly isn't a bad thing.

FYI: Word is that Amerie is working on new songs with The Neptunes, and plans to release an American version of Because I Love It this year.