The Singles Jukebox

*extremely Gordon Ramsay voice* it’s bland…

[Video][Website]
[4.25]

Micha Cavaseno: The summer of Tyga is certainly going to be met with a lot of dialog about how it’s immoral to prop him up; to which I’d say yes, but not because he’s a deplorable man (he is), but that he’s such a dull one to endure. Before The Era Of Kylie was a real psychic stab wound in the minds of anyone foolish enough to pay attention to arguably the 3rd best rapper out of Young Money, Tyga was a highly competent albeit flavorless club rapper. While YG was the architect of the “ratchet” sound that dominated club radio for years alongside Mustard serving as a Keith Sweat/Teddy Riley-like dynamic, Tyga was undoubtedly the Bobby Brown who spearheaded the movement. That said, it is 2018, and thanks to Offset mining this style for an equally boring single earlier in the year with “Ric Flair Drip,” now we have Tyga garnering repeat hits in LA doing the same song but worse. Do I want to go back to the miserable dreck that was the Kyoto album? Lord no. But why should I be told to settle for a muddy, sludgy, club slump? “Taste” sounds like the summer in that it’s humid, uninhabitable, and — no matter how exciting you think it’ll be — you’re ready for it to end almost as soon as it’s begun. Neither rapper here could give a damn about impressing anyone. It’s a record that reeks with self-importance and the tiresome knowledge that it’s bound to be a hit, so why try? Such ugly displays of expectation make “Taste” a nightmare to deal with, and much like Tyga himself, you wonder what people see in something so repulsive.
[4]

Nicholas Donohoue: There’s still a sliver of the juvenile left in me, and the references to Hi-C, sweet treats, and Mary Kate and Ashley hit exactly at that giddy, joyous, braggadocios high that that mindset is precious for. An slap of the summer, with extra points for being one of the more tasteful and brilliant Aaliyah samples in its turgid history.
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: Tyga let dinky bass beats guide him during his initial post-“Rack City” run. But more than half a year since that first Mustard wave, it’s starting to sound like beat-makers are now tailoring a sound specifically for him. The minimal build of “Taste” suits his trusted approach since No Introduction to go in on a pop track with a mindset of a backpacker, albeit one who writes nothing of substance beyond tedious punchlines. Offset, the more technical Migos, also understands how to go in, even going far as lowering his voice into a whisper if he wants to place emphasis.
[6]

Nortey Dowuona: The background vocals are echoey and drifting, just like DaniLeigh’s “Lil BeBe,” which I honestly would prefer to Tyga’s breadknife voice and Offset’s lazy, clenched teeth mumble.
[4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: There’s a certain subset of rapper that can instantly take a feature and use it to take over a song in its entirely. It’s a small category — right now, for one reason or another, it only includes the likes of Drake, Kendrick, and Chance. Offset is not typically part of this group. That’s nothing against him — as an MC, he’s become the most welcome Migo to have on your track over the past two years or so — but his style is so aggressively a part of the substrate of generic trap in the late 2010s that he rarely rises particularly high above the baseline of a song he’s on. But on “Taste,” his only two rivals for the spotlight are Tyga and a beat that sounds exactly like his own biggest solo hit. And despite more than a half decade since his first hit, Tyga is still a complete void of personality. In comparison, Offset feels like Lil Wayne in 2006.
[3]

Will Rivitz: Somewhere on Reddit about a decade ago, this meme about Lil Wayne went viral. Amongst other faults, it’s inaccurate to characterize Weezy, who during his prime was consistently one of the best lyricists in the game, as a lazy writer. That said, its central conceit applies pretty accurately to Tyga here, whose verses are noteworthy only inasmuch as they rhyme “claim” with “claim” and describe oral sex using a simile involving two actresses best known for work produced when they were children. As a rule of thumb, if Offset outraps you on a throwaway feature, you’re doing something wrong.
[3]

Alfred Soto: Of course Offset offsets Tyga, but the D.A. Doman production is the star anyway, a promise of a good groove that Tyga does his best to demolish. Hi-C — now, really, is that nice?
[3]

Tim de Reuse: Relaxed, open, spacious — At least, in theory. Offset sounds like he’s relaxed; Tyga sounds like he’s barely paying attention.
[4]