The Singles Jukebox

I wish it were Sunday…

[Video]
[5.33]

Iain Mew: A UK #1 by a British rapper being this focused on the rapping is maybe unprecedented — “Pass Out” is the closest I can think of and that had Labrinth’s uncredited chorus. “Funky Friday”‘s chart prospects got helped along by much the same effects of switches to streaming as can be seen nearly everywhere, but Dave and Fredo make enough out of its stark minimalism for it to acquire its own anthemic weight too. I love the way that the density of wordplay accelerates while nothing else does, and I can’t stop thinking about the HMV/HMP rhyme and the way that His Master’s Voice and Her Majesty’s Prison line up even better in full than abbreviated.
[7]

Crystal Leww: “Funky Friday” sets out to prove that Real Rap Music still can have a place in popular hip-hop music, with Dave and Fredo trading verses and a chorus that barely even qualifies as such. And yet, it’s an upgrade in every way from the Dave that we heard in 2016 — production that sounds spooky enough to match the tone of the song with its thwapper of a bass and Dave sounds comfortable and confident. I can’t believe that Dave is the same artist that we reviewed for Sound Of! This Dave has something to say and the right stuff to back it up. 
[6]

Will Adams: There’s definite charm here, from the chirpy synth melody evoking Flo Rida to the attempt to coin a phrase as goofy as “funky Friday.” But the rest of the song has hit the snooze button; neither Dave nor Fredo nor the beat really step up to offer something memorable.
[5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: A purely formalist exercise, from the generically menacing beat onwards. Every line works, but none of them move me in any way.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Dave’s a passable rapper; Fredo’s a bit better. But the track is almost nonexistent — as the saying goes, there’s no there there. It wasn’t for this that Dizzee Rascal broke down barriers for British rappers.
[3]

Andy Hutchins: A synth-and-drum-and-bass instrumental this elemental usually elicits (from mediocre rappers, anyway) approaches like those taken by Dave and Fredo: Dave stays mostly in pocket, but chops several bars early, and amuses himself with a spelling-heavy verse; Fredo’s just droning right along with the beat. The pair’s chemistry is virtually nonexistent, but that’s fine: Dave does enough to carry, and it’s his bars you can envision Drake mining for slang or placing on Top Boy.
[6]