Sometimes, I like being wrong. Case in point? I rushed to judgment on the new single “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy and on the entire career of up-and-coming R&B songstress Shontelle. Now, however, I realize that “Billionaire” is actually a surprising and unusual hip-hop song and that Shontelle has potential.

Won’t you join me as I traverse the fields of my altered opinions? (What? That was poetic.)

(1) “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars

The first time I heard this on the radio, I really only listened to the first line of the chorus: “I wanna be a billionaire so fuckin’ bad.” I assumed it was yet another greed anthem from the school of hip-hop that Puff Daddy founded in the late nineties, and I rolled my eyes in judgment. Later, when I realized the song is by Travie McCoy, leader of the alternative hip-hop group Gym Class Heroes, my disinterest increased. The GCH single “Cupid’s Chokehold” is pretty good, but their follow-up, “Clothes Off!” is one of my most-hated songs of the Aughts. It turns the 80s hit “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” on its ear, insisting that we DO have to take our clothes off to have a good time… and it makes this switch with such smarminess that I want to kick someone.

(As a side note, this is my primary frustration with everyone on Fueled By Ramen, the record label that signed GCH and is most known for launching Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco. All these acts have made great music, but they’ve also sullied their talent with smug, ironic posturing.)

Anyway… “Billionaire.” You can understand why I thought it was just another ode to acquisition. But then I listened to the verses. McCoy raps that he wants to be a billionaire so he can help Katrina victims, adopt needy babies, feed the poor, and help Barack Obama make policy decisions. He doesn’t want to buy anything for himself at all… he just wants to be “Travie Claus, minus the ho-ho.”

And that’s a complicated desire. It’s simultaneously hopeful and disillusioned.

It’s hopeful, of course, because it’s all about McCoy’s eagerness to help people. The song’s laid-back, surf-rock bounce reinforces the idea that this jam is for everyone who likes to kick back and dream of a better world. The video, too, with its multi-racial cadre of frolicking kids, suggests that the future should involve a lot of chilling out and being nice to people.

But on the other hand, the song suggests that McCoy can only dream of making a difference. It takes for granted that charity and political influence are privileges that come with wealth. You can imagine the revelers in the video saying, “Man, I’d love to change the world. Too bad I can’t afford it!”

And that’s kind of sad, you know? It’s certainly not the attitude that drove young Americans in the 1930s or 1960s. Back then, as I understand it, there was an assumption that when it came to shaking up the system, money was no match for drive.

So for all its hookiness and charm, “Billionaire” asks some troubling questions. I don’t know how to answer them, but before I heard this song, I wasn’t even thinking about them.

(2) “Impossible” by Shontelle

Back in 2008, did you hear Shontelle’s debut single, “T-Shirt?” If you didn’t, then don’t feel bad. It blows. From the songwriting to the production to Shontelle’s flavorless performance, it epitomizes facelessness.

On the other hand, while Shontelle’s new single “Impossible” isn’t changing my understanding of what music can accomplish, it’s forcing me to acknowledge that she has real talent. Her vocal is passionate, and the production is meaty. (It’s by Arnthor Birgisson, who brought us Jennifer Lopez’s undervalued masterpiece “Play.”) Listening to the song, you get a sense that something urgent is happening… that you should probably pay attention to find out what is so impossible.

Now, I’m not completely sold on Shontelle, but since she’s making progress, I’ll give her a shot. I mean, Rihanna seemed generic at the start of her career, and now she’s amazing. You just never know.