Earlier today the Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – took a look at a really interesting and unique song which made it to the semi-finals at A Dal 2016. Mushu and their song “Uncle Tom” is not what we’d normally expect to be in the field, but that’s why A Dal is so exciting. Surprises every time! Check what our team thought about the song and the band. Do we love it? Or not? Keep on reading and you’ll see…
Mushu – Uncle Tom
Watch their life performance at MTVA
“Uncle Tom” reviews
Robyn: This is unexpected – a black Hungarian artist who is using traditional African-American music styles to make a statement about poor working conditions in Eastern Europe. The quickly delivered song lyrics aren’t always clear, but the song has loads of energy and style, a blend of American and European folk styles and modern rock. It’s a welcome addition to A Dal.
Score: 6.5/10
Angus: I’m totally not a rocker but dang this is good! The diction is a little clumsy, but the electro-flecked rocky break down easily makes up for it and the instrumental is an instant head-banger. Hungary’s previous rock songs have strayed wide of the mark but this, for the most part, hits it.
Score: 7/10
Judit: This song has stuck in my head. I actually didn’t want it to qualify but I’m still happy because they did. It’s not a mainstream song. The singer has a unique voice and they have their own style. Hopefully they’ll have big success in the future, but I don’t think that ESC stage could work for them.
Score: 7.5/10
Edd: It’s so hard nowadays to produce something that’s completely unique – but Mushu have achieved just that! Amazing styling, interesting voice, fun lyrics: I can really see this being a dark horse as winning the whole thing (because come on, it’s A Dal – anything could happen). Although I do want a bit more colour in the backdrop.
Score: 7.5/10
Ramadan: I’m definitely not the biggest fan of rock music and I’m not really a big fan of this song either. I find this song average — it doesn’t leave a good impression. However, that voice is unique and works well with the song. This isn’t for Eurovision, I’m afraid!
Score: 4/10
Patrick: Ehmn, so what is this, Hungary? A product of shitty music styles mixed together presented by guys who just scream into their mics. Yes, that describes it best, I think. No music style behind it, no voice behind it, no nothing interesting!
Score: 1.5/10
In the Hungarian Wiwi Jury we have 14 jurors, but only have room for 6 reviews. The remaining 8 scores are below!
Denise: 5/10
Sinan: 3.5/10
Dayana: 10/10
Luis: 7.5/10
Antranig: 7/10
Cristian: 6/10
Mikhail: 7/10
To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 1.5 and a high of 10.
I really like this! The using of the provocative term “Uncle Tom” underlies the message of racism that is still part of today’s society and gets your attention. I think this would be great at Eurovision, especially with the vocal hook “Let my people go!”
@dutchie
the two can’t be compared at all
@mocosuburbian
I’m not sure but I think that’s exactly what this song is about: comparing current working circumstances in Central Europe to slavery.
Pretty good song.
It’s a nice change to the EDM and ballads we get every year. And before anyone tries to say it, no…this doesn’t sound anything like Nickelback.
so basically europeans singing about something they don’t know anything about idk if mushu can tell but the phrase ‘uncle tom’ is v. pejorative (especially in the US, maybe not in hungary) nowadays even if it was originally intended to be a good thing in the past. the whole song has this cheery attitude when making references to something that most people on the other side of the Atlantic wish hadn’t happened… it’s really strange like imagine a song being released in the US about how great skiing through Finland was during the Winter War or living under the Estado… Read more »
I was an idiot when I watched the first episode of A Dal 2016. I counted at least for a semblance of the participants, that they try to adjust to the Eurovision Song Contest. That’s why it was great sadism for me.
akw lyrics
This is definitely the most exciting song in A Dal and I cannot get enough of it. If the voters avoid the safe choices, this is the song to go for.
Will it win Eurovision? Probably not. It will however, make people excited about Hungary again after last year’s disaster.