This complicated, shaded emotion is at the core of "I'm on One" and its performers perfectly compliment that. Harmonically, the song would actually be a sad one if it wasn't for the last minute scramble to its root chord and home key of D major. It begins on an E minor to G major motion–the "major lift" that another Canadian icon once sang about–but reaches further upwards and lands on a B minor, placing the listener in less uplifting minor-key territory. As that instantly recognizable synth riff weaves its way through, an unchanging constant, the chord progression steadily ascends, with a slight catch. The composition of "I'm on One" also goes a long way towards its mood. I, personally, have about a dozen attempts at remaking it collecting dust in my hard drive. It's about as Torontonian a beat as you can get. That's not to discount Lex's tremendous influence, but a lot has to be said for the dynamic restraint that T-Minus and Kromatik used, aided of course by 40's aqueous mixing touches. Sleek and cybernetic, he and his beatmaking partner Nikhil "Kromatik" Seetharam painted an endless vista with watercolours where Lex Luger and his many clones used thick blotches. Much of that power is from T-Minus' unique production vision. It feels huge listening to it on even the most modest of sound systems feels like trying to stare up at a mountain's peak from its foothills. More than half a decade after its release, the Drake, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross-featuring "I'm on One" remains a colossus that simply cannot be scaled.
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