The Singles Jukebox

WE THE BEST! YES, EVEN DRAKE!…

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[4.10]

Al Shipley: Khaled’s genius hitmaking formula, namely to throw half a dozen platinum artists in a burlap sack and not let them out until they’ve made him a single, worked well enough for a couple years. But it was all wearing thin on “Out Here Grindin'”, and the wheels are grinding completely to a halt now. Most of the entertainment value comes from golden boy Drake squeaking out 8 pitiful bars and getting outrapped by Usher.
[2]

Jonathan Bradley: Drake mentions Lil’ Wayne in the first line of his verse, prompting thoughts of Weezy’s star turn on “We Takin’ Over.” That prior Khaled single had a stunning beat and a line-up of great rappers turning in credible performances. How tepid “Fed Up” is by comparison; a verse from the usually-reliable Young Jeezy that makes no impression whatsoever, a verse from Rick Ross that is a verse from Rick Ross, and way too much Usher, way too many synth-tsunamis and way too little of anything worth caring about.
[2]

Chuck Eddy: Sometimes I wonder if all these stupid rap hits nowadays with idiots constantly yelling out “hey! hey! hey!” for no fucking reason would push my oi! buttons more if they were in a foreign langauge. More likely theory: crunk wrecked gang shouts forever. Anyway, this is obviously a big fat mess. Minor saving graces are Jeezy, who can still make me chuckle just by mentioning the Tin Man, and Usher’s (I guess) stuff about being sick and tired of being sick and tired, which somehow gives this some boy-band drama despite itself.
[4]

Anthony Miccio: Hearing Usher dance over The Runners’ skittering percussion and blaring fanfare almost makes it even more grating when the usual suspects show up to groan, holler and wheedle respectively. It’s not that Usher’s sentiments are any more or less noxious, he just knows how to marry them to the music rather than plop them on top. Thankfully, it’s not these cameos that are stuck in my head.
[7]

John Seroff: Sharp drum-and-bass-on-a-treadmill production from The Runners keeps “Fed Up” moving flywheel-fast enough to turn Khaled’s de rigueur boasting into doppler effect wheeze and then BANG: there’s Usher, sounding like Confessions just streeted. See, Jeezy rides the beat well; Ross grumbles along at a faster pace than he seems comfortable with and Drake brings the song to a screeching halt but “Fed Up” lives and dies on the contributions of Mr. Raymond. When he’s on the chorus or the verse, the song soars; more’s the pity this couldn’t have been a solo.
[7]

Michaelangelo Matos: The title telegraphs punch lines so obvious you might expect someone here to utilize them. But that would require someone to (a) evince a sense of humor on a DJ Khaled record, thereby blowing it, and (b) reach for something other than the reject drawer. Can we throw this “mastermind” out in the midterms?
[2]

Ian Mathers: Doesn’t it give anyone involved mental whiplash to spend half of the time talking about getting their foot in the door, and half of the time talking about how accomplished, popular and rich they already are? Do I ever think about that kind of thing if the track is arresting enough that I’m paying more attention to it than to that kind of real world consideration? The answer to both questions, it seems, is “no”.
[6]

Alfred Soto: The number of listed guests is directly proportional to the track’s perfunctoriness; it’s like they’re trying to wake each other up with a phony fracas.
[4]

Erick Bieritz: Khaled gave the posse cut a much-needed shot in the arm in recent years with a few absolute monster tracks (“We Takin’ Over,” “Out Here Grindin’”), but neither the shiny clattering beat nor the vague boosterism of “Fed Up” adds anything over his past few hits.
[4]

Matt Cibula: This song is like me at my first job — it runs around being VERY BUSY so people won’t notice that it isn’t doing anything at all.
[3]