The Singles Jukebox

Still waiting for that posse cut that shouts out for credit unions.

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[5.29]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: No one’s on their A-game here, and the last time a similar group convened was much more fruitful. Moreover, Big Sean’s verse is bad even by his low standards, unjust Madden-related censorship aside. Yet, as the tweets suggest, there’s something undeniable about the energy of “Big Bank” — perhaps not enough to make it good, but definitely enough to make you want to blast those opening bars out of whatever you can get your hands on.
[6]

Alfred Soto: It’s easy to believe no one knew what the hell they were doing here besides showing up, and, in Big Sean’s case, admitting he’s as awful threatening to fuck himself as when he turns his eyes on other women. Where YG once wore his better than average slinging modestly, it’s like he can’t be bothered to be an awake Travis Scott.
[4]

Julian Axelrod: Whenever I feel like spiraling into an existential crisis, I think about the countless hours I’ve spent listening to subpar posse cuts with an eye-catching feature spread. It’s a can’t-miss formula — take a simple beat and let some charming motherfuckers spit punchlines all over it — that always seems to miss. So maybe I’m grading on a curve, but “Big Bank” gives me everything I want from a sleek summer smash. The buoyant beat bops like a stone skipped across a solid gold lake, adding a bit of oomph to punctuate each verse without fucking up the flow. (Extra points for the image of Mustard on the marimba.) Then again, it’s not like the rappers need the help; you can practically hear everyone smiling through their verses. YG holds the track together with one hand, Nicki sounds more inspired than anywhere on Queen, Big Sean manages not to fuck everything up, and 2 Chainz proves he can still steal a song in 30 seconds. I’m a simple man with simple pleasures. Give me Tity Boi comparing himself to a dinosaur over brain-melting 808s and I’m sold.
[7]

Tobi Tella: This is the kind of unabashedly dumb song that I can get on board with — the kind of banger that I’ll likely be hearing at parties next semester and scream all the words to. The “big bank take lil bank” hook is one hell of an earworm, and despite the fact that the song’s kinda stupid, there are actually some clever and political lines in both YG and Big Sean’s verses. Points off for 2 Chainz: “big shit like a dinosaur did it” is easily one of the worst lines of the year.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: DJ Mustard’s minimalist dinking and tinkling is playful but unobstrusive enough that you can treat it as a focal point or ignore it, and pay attention to the assembled talent on top. And that’s a bit of a mixed bag. 2 Chainz isn’t even trying with some of those rhymes, though I always raise a smile when I remember that he used to call himself ‘Tity Boi’ and that he somehow isn’t ashamed to admit it. Nicki Minaj is trying with the delivery (which is deliciously smug and imperious) though less so with the actual writing. Big Sean throws in some of the densest, best lines but I enjoy them more on screen than in my ears. And YG is… struggling to leave much of an impression on me other than that the hook is kind of dumb.
[5]

Will Rivitz: If I remember correctly from the intro macroeconomics course I took in college, big banks turn profits by borrowing from their patrons, pocketing investment returns made off money that isn’t theirs on the assumption that they’ll pay their customers back on demand. That seems an apt reference point for “Big Bank,” a study in what might most charitably be called “borrowing”: Mustard cribs from Grant Kirkhope, Big Sean cribs from, uh, Macklemore, and the whole crew cribs from decades of uninspired minimal-beat posse cuts.
[3]

Iain Mew: DJ Mustard’s plinkyplonk production has the air of the bit of a soundtrack in a family drama that’s meant to signify comic hijinks. That’s disruptive enough that “Big Bank” becomes all about how each person interacts with the resultant feeling. YG doesn’t do much with it, Nicki’s uninspired and mostly a capella verse literally doesn’t engage with it, while 2 Chainz and his Santa jokes lean in that bit too hard. That leaves the unlikely scenario where Big Sean is the most on point, “rare as affordable health care” the exact mood to hit. 
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