Sunday: Single Reviews
Monday: A review of Redemption by Jay Rock; there will be no playlist additions post
Tuesday: A review of NASIR by Nas; there will be no Hot Take Tuesday
Wednesday: Ski Mask The Slump God artist review
Thursday: A revisit of an older album or fessing up and getting a free trial on Tidal to listen to the new Beyonce and Jay Z record (not very likely)
Friday-Sunday: the same reviews as always
I listened to 11 singles today and here's what I thought.
1) Nicki Minaj feat. Lil Wayne - Rich Sex
Once again, Nicki Minaj released two singles in a week for her upcoming album Queen. The first was a collaboration with Lil Wayne, and it's been known that these two have great chemistry together. I was expecting a bit of a sexual ballad but instead got a braggadocious flex anthem. The production is a mix of pianos and hi-hats, which makes for a decent instrumental, but it doesn't stick out. Lil Wayne's verse kind of blew me away since I initially expected something terrible from him. He flows very well and is easily the highlight of this track. What brought the song down was the tedious hook and yet another outro where Nicki makes a bunch of random, obnoxious noises.
Verdict: Just like her other singles, it's a decent first listen without any replay value.
2) Nicki Minaj feat. Ariana Grande - Bed
The cover for this single makes no sense. Why would you pose in a pool for a song about doing things in bed? Anyway, this song is more of a pop ballad. It's been known on songs like "Side to Side" and "Bang Bang" that Nicki and Ariana have undeniably great chemistry. Ariana's hook is the highlight of this song as her singing continues to impress me. Nicki's contribution isn't terrible, but it's by no means good either. Her verses are pretty forgettable, but I do think the third verse is a step above the other two.
Verdict: It's not bad, but I don't see myself going back to it.
3) Lecrae x Zaytoven - Plugged In
This is the second single for their upcoming project Let the Trap Say Amen. I know that Lecrae is a Christian rapper, but I find him comparing God to a plug that answers his prayers as opposed to selling him drugs to be pretty funny. I thought the hook was pretty decent. However, it seems like Zaytoven didn't even try to differentiate this beat from another song he made earlier this year, "Designer" by Lil Pump. I know that this song is better from a lyrical standpoint, but could Zaytoven at least try to give Lecrae a better beat?
Verdict: Like the last single, it sounds good, but is forgettable.
4) O.T. Genasis - Cash On It
I haven't heard the name O.T. Genasis in what feels like forever. He used to put out some pretty sick bangers like "CoCo," "Cut It," "The Flyest," and "Push It." I checked out this song because I was curious to see what kind of new music he was making. This song is produced in the same style as his older singles, which is drill-influenced trap. However, this song was lacking a memorable hook, which was what made his older songs so catchy. It sounds boring, and it doesn't help that it shows up four times throughout the song. The verses don't add much either except one of the stupidest lines of 2018: "Ass real fat, dat cholesterol." Is that supposed to be a compliment? I'll at least give him props for coming up with a unique way to describe a fat ass.
Verdict: Swing and a miss.
5) GoldLink feat. Miguel - Got Friends
This song is just so basic. The vocal delivery and flows from both Miguel and GoldLink certainly sound nice, but the subject matter is just extremely played out at this point. It seems like GoldLink is trying to get a radio hit, and I don't blame him since not too many people know about him. But this is just boring. And having one of the most played out sequences in hip-hop history, the one where the artist says something along the lines of "If you a bad bitch put yo hands up," as the outro just doesn't help.
Verdict: BOOOOOOOORRRIIIIING
6) Troye Sivan feat. Ariana Grande - Dance to This
This song is appropriately titled as this does sound like something you can dance to. It's such a groovy pop tune. Each verse on this song is just four lines, which is way too short, but it's more than made up for by an infectious and catchy pre-chorus and chorus. It seems like Ariana Grande has great chemistry with just about anyone.
Verdict: I like this song. It's fun.
7) Martin Garrix feat. Khalid - Ocean
The only other Martin Garrix song I've ever heard is "Animals," which is an absolute banger. There isn't much to say about the lyrical content since this is an EDM song after all, but I can say that I love Khalid's vocals on here. I've never heard him do a falsetto before, but it sounded pretty great on the chorus. Also, it's a rarity when a drop in an EDM song doesn't sound loud and abrasive, so this was certainly a nice change of pace.
Verdict: Yeah, it's pretty cool.
8) 2 Chainz feat. Drake x Quavo - Bigger Than You
The instrumental from Murda Beatz is certainly interesting, which isn't something I say often about one of the most average producers in hip-hop. The vocal contributions from all three artists aren't very memorable, but they weren't bad either. They all flowed pretty well. Quavo delivers one of his best hooks in a while, 2 Chainz kills his verses as per usual, and Drake's contribution was easily the highlight just like any of his other features.
Verdict: Not the best from 2 Chainz but it's still enjoyable.
9) French Montana feat. Remy Ma - New Thang
I didn't expect to like this song as much as I did. Harry Fraud's production sounds amazing as always. Despite the fact that French Montana does his best efforts to take the charisma out of any song with his involvement, he does sound best over Fraud's production. I also think he sounds pretty tolerable here. Remy Ma sounded unexpectedly great as she delivers a solid verse, but her rendition of the hook isn't as good as French's.
Verdict: It's on the better end of the Uncle Drew soundtrack singles.
10) Bhad Bhabie feat. Ty Dolla $ign - Trust Me
After the waste of a great beat that was "Gucci Flip Flops," Bhad Bhabie is back with another single. Earlier this week, she didn't take kindly to being left off the 2018 XXL Freshman List by saying that she assumed an event sponsored by a condom company (Magnum) wouldn't allow a fifteen-year-old girl to make an appearance. So what did we get with this song? Some absolutely god-awful autotuned vocals on the hook and verse. Ty Dolla $ign almost saves this track with a solid verse but doesn't because Ms. Cash Me Ousside tries her absolute best to make sure this sounds horrible. An artist who would be a better fit for this instrumental would be K Camp. The reason why I say this is because he and Bobby Krititcal are the producers on this track.
Verdict: Bhad Bhabie ruins this song and wastes yet another solid instrumental.
11) Beyonce x Jay-Z - Apeshit
First things first, fuck Jay-Z for dropping a collab album with Beyonce and continuing to torture Spotify users by making his music available on Tidal and only Tidal. Tidal is no different from any other streaming service except for the fact that it's more expensive and contains Jay-Z's discography. Luckily, I was able to listen to this song because there's a music video for it. Quavo does ad-libs throughout the track, and other than when he goes "YEET, YEET, YEET, YEET," his ad-libs sound pretty good. Beyonce raps using triplet flows for her verses and hook, and it actually isn't terrible. It was made very obvious that Quavo and Offset had writing credits when she name-dropped Patek Phillippe near the end of the first verse. Jay-Z's verse is the highlight of the song as he name drops Chief Keef, references declining the Super Bowl halftime show, and references being nominated for 8 Grammy awards earlier this year and winning none of them.
Verdict: It's a great song and it makes me kind of want a Tidal subscription so I could hear the rest of the damn album.
I'll be back tomorrow with a review of the new Jay Rock album.
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