The Singles Jukebox

“90s kids can relate!!!”

[Video]
[6.50]

Crystal Leww: Taconafide’s Soma 0.5 mg is like the Watch The Throne of the Polish hip-hop scene. Both Quebonafide and Taco Hemingway are popular rappers in their own right, and they’ve teamed up here to break records on the Polish streaming charts. I’m pleasantly surprised by how the two rappers keep “Tamagotchi” moving right along — trading off even within verses, with a growing intensity. I love that the production elements grow to match that intensity, too, and of course, being the dance music fan that I am, I love it when the drums and synths kick it into high gear. This reminds me of so much of “Hell Of A Night,” and I wish that more rappers would try their hand at making some dancefloor bangers. 
[6]

Tim de Reuse: The tone is claustrophobic, hurried, overwhelmed, and the delivery is harsh and heavy; when the chant of “Tamagotchi” first began repeating and contorting at the end of the last verse I found myself surprisingly engaged. Out of a modern Europe lousy with unflavored, indistinguishable trop-hip-hop singles that pass effortlessly through memory without leaving a trace, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear something that sounds like it’s actually trying to fill space with sonic detail instead of reverb. 
[7]

Iain Mew: Can I bring myself to like another anthem for world-weariness name-checking a bunch of apps? The neon house pulse with just the right balance of pleasurable and compulsive says probably, and the hook turning life into just drinking, eating, sleeping like a Tamagotchi seals the deal. It’s not only an image that fits perfectly but it’s nice to hear something that doesn’t just sneer from a remove and which is aware that new tech didn’t come out of nowhere.
[8]

Alfred Soto: A beautifully arranged slow burn — modern rap often doesn’t use rock guitar this effectively, and the rapping is carried by its own momentum.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: A great, sprawling, hyper-inventive beat (besides the main riff, which outstays its welcome about 30 seconds in) and rappers doing well more than average — just at cross-purposes to one another.
[5]

Will Adams: Like any good hip house, “Tamagotchi” is an exercise in seamless fusion. Via the production, we’ve got cavernous bass rumbling beneath twinkling bell synths. Via the performers, we’ve got nimble flows to show the prowess, and a hooky-as-hell chorus to ride the groove.
[6]