The Singles Jukebox

We hurt because we love.

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[4.18]

Katie Gill: That can’t have been Jeremih on the first verse. Ohhhh I hope that wasn’t Jeremih rapping because that was TERRIBLE. But no, it’s got to be Jeremih rapping because they put the same sort of compression monotone filter on Nicki and she sounds equally terrible. Add in Nicki’s half-assed third verse and that boring as hell chorus and you get a Hindenburg of a song: something that tried to be impressive but massive structural flaws caused it to go down in flames.
[2]

Katherine St Asaph: DJ Mustard is impressive again! By which I mean it’s impressive how he rips off “Don’t Tell ‘Em” and “Work” at once. Nicki’s verse (“I’m looking for a man, fuck a b-o-y”) must be directed at Jeremih, as based on this verse, he sounds below the age of consent.
[3]

Will Rivitz: It’s a testament to the speed and relentlessness of hip-hop innovation that this song already sounds dated even though it’s virtually the same as Mustard and Jeremih’s 2014 smash “Don’t Tell ‘Em.” Then again, maybe it’s just the self-plagiarism that makes this one uninteresting.
[4]

Alfred Soto: Toasting filtered through Mustard’s electronic claptrap, thanks to which Jeremih’s title hook sounds like a prayer from an invulnerable supplicant and Nicki Minaj working overtime to press her hands against her ears and go LALALALA.
[2]

Anthony Easton: This is a fantastic verse from Nicki, and they know it, from how the beat gets even more minimal, like curtains drawn so she can take center stage. Also, an extra point for how she pronounces “Jordan.”
[8]

Claire Biddles: Nicki is as formidable when she’s super chill as when she’s aggressive, and she’s definitely the headliner here.
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: Dijon continues to be a great collaborator for Jeremih. The more space you give him, the more the singer thrives. He’s having a lot of fun with his voice in the negative space here, fiddling with an elastic mumble, only to abandon it for his smooth high notes. Nicki compliments, too. She is, after all, one of the best players in terms of voice. And it shows as she switches between Jeremih’s singer foil and a rapper claiming her own.
[6]

Thomas Inskeep: I would like to never have to hear Jeremih’s mediocre hook-singer voice again. I would also like to never have to hear another mediocre water-treading DJ Mustard production again. As for Nicki, she can do better; this vocal is totally phoned-in. At least the crappy chorus led me to listen to Diana King’s far superior original source.
[2]

Cassy Gress: This gets a lot of potential points from borrowing from Diana King’s “Shy Guy,” but loses them all from Nicki’s uninspired rap at the end that rhymes “time” with “Time.”
[4]

Edward Okulicz: One of Mustard’s most, er, “work”-manlike productions, and one that has me wondering what the direct antonym is for “augmented.” Because it’s not-augmented by some agonisingly held notes, and further not-augmented by Nicki’s worst verse in memory, climaxing with the ridiculous and terrible and not-cool “took me for a (Cruz), yeah, Penelope.” The Diana King source of the hook is a classic, and a song this bad might have got a 5 if only they’d surprised and nicked the chorus from the even better “L-L-Lies.”
[3]

Brad Shoup: Mustard teases one more anagram out of his chemical formula (the heys are spaced out), Jeremih skims from dancehall, and Nicki refuses to pick between Steph and LeBron.
[5]