The Singles Jukebox

Dreamy French rap! About a dick! (And also, mostly, other things).

[Video]
[6.00]

Katherine St Asaph: Perils of looking up a translation: learning that the drifty instrumental is accompanied by lines like “Life is hard, like my dick.”
[5]

Rebecca A. Gowns: Dreamy French rap, with a bridge/outro that sounds like wandering into the catacombs.
[7]

Anjy Ou: On the surface, this is a regular trap song. Languidly delivered braggadocio, mentions of sex, violence, expensive cars, drugs — standard fare. Hidden between all that, however, is the tale of two artists with a stubborn desire to succeed in a world built to crush them. Kalash is originally from Martinique, and Damso from the DRC — it’s extremely significant that this song has gotten to #1 in France at a time when most of Europe is rejecting migrants, and neo-nazis are resurfacing. The multi-layered lyrics (thank you Google Translate), particularly from Damso, subtly refer to racial and class tensions in Europe, and position the rappers as the victors in the end, though not without those experiences taking their toll. The music video paints the song as an Afro-futuristic superhero story, the rappers kings on a stark, moonlike landscape. One translator has determined “mwaka” to refer to Kalash’s West Indian heritage. But “mwaka” is also a Kiswahili word that means “time” or “season.” This song feels like a message to black and brown people across the globe: “our time has come.”
[8]

Nortey Dowuona: Average raps from Kalash and solid raps from Damso, heavy, hangdog keys over popping yet waterlogged drums.
[5]

Alfred Soto: The Linn drum rattles complement a burrowing, kinetic little rap that is more powerful when the percussion falls out ever so slightly.
[6]

Crystal Leww: Plods along like any Future deep cut would. It’s not bad, but I’m not too thrilled with either Future’s career direction nor “Mwaka Moon” if I’m being honest.
[5]

Ryo Miyauchi: “Mwaka Moon” resembles what Travis Scott’s trap lullabies might sound before he dunks them into the deep-fryer of after effects. Processed ad libs still warp the track, but otherwise the clean lines of both the beat and the flows impress enough to set it somewhat apart from a much aped formula.
[6]