The Singles Jukebox

J-Mike’ll make you… Trippie Redd’ll make you… uh-huh, uh-huh…

[Video]
[4.67]

Katie Gill: Well this sure as shit is a collab none of us saw coming. I’m not entirely sure what (if anything) Julia Michaels is trying to pivot to, but I don’t think it’s working. Her persistent sleepiness works really well with Trippie Redd’s laid back guest verse, but that’s about it. This song is so middle of the road and skippable that after a few listens of it, all I can come up with is “yup, that’s a song.”
[4]

Julian Axelrod: “Jump” follows a distinctly 2018 formula: clean-cut pop starlet tries to sully her sound with a verse from a hot SoundCloud rapper, only to find the song is a flop and their new collaborator is a domestic abuser. But somehow, unlike other singles of its ilk, this experiment actually works. Julia Michaels’s raw angst and romantic aversion is only a few degrees removed from Trippie Redd’s emo screeds, but she’s got the kind of bulletproof choruses most rappers only dream of writing. I’m hesitant to praise her guest for obvious reasons, but I will say his presence lends a certain poignancy to the narrative. For a song about overcoming past trauma and learning to trust again, there’s a bitter irony to Michaels ceding the spotlight to a scumbag who’s hurt before and will probably hurt again.
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: Trippie Redd is a rather uneasy collaborator for Julia Michaels, specifically in relation to what she writes about in “Jump.” Her side of the story is a prelude to an immature, destructive love, its train-wreck quality understated from the subdued aquatic synths as well as Michaels’s predictably smooth rap cadence. Meanwhile, the man next to her is a guy who deals with break-ups through violent threats, which he also sings about a little here. But musically, the odd coupling works: though coming from opposite perspectives, they together nail the sharp vertigo from nosediving into love.
[6]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: I’m consistently impressed by Julia Michaels’s vocal melodies even when they’re in songs I don’t particularly like. This somehow makes Trippie Redd an apt fit as a collaborator, as he’s one of the best rappers right now in terms of making every line as memorable and catchy as possible. He’s not quite as unhinged as I’d like him to be here, but he certainly provides a verse that doesn’t feel tacked on. Michaels delivers a performance that’s appropriately muted yet meaningfully evocative, but the chorus is too much of a non-event, deflating much of the drama that’s touted in the lyrics. The switch to a trap beat during Trippie’s verse proves to be the song’s climax — underwhelming considering how trite a musical development it is.
[4]

Alfred Soto: I can’t say I’ve enjoyed a single one of Julia Michaels’s biz-approved approach to, uh, issues, and while the synth chords are the equivalent of painted glass, here’s another example of her pro forma approach. I’ve enjoyed one of Trippie’s recent appearances; he does his best. 
[4]

Alex Clifton: Julia Michaels gives us her best Tove Stryke impression but falls flat with a blank chorus. Would have been better with Sabrina Carpenter at the helm.
[3]