The Singles Jukebox

From critically acclaimed to critically agreeable…

[Video]
[6.71]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The Burna Boy/Kel P combo has been near-unstoppable this year– the producer’s warm, chorus-drenched finger-picked guitars provide a necessary sonic counterpoint to Burna Boy’s all-consuming croon. “Pull Up” is not a particular standout from African Giant, but it’s a good-enough and accessible-enough introduction to Burna Boy that I reasonably expect this to be playing at frat parties by year’s end.
[7]

Vikram Joseph: I was going to comment on how wasteful it was to release this after the end of the summer, but then realised it came out in July, so… as you were. This is a sensual, low-key gorgeous jam — Burna Boy turns in a soulful, restrained performance, but the real star is that ephemeral flicker of a guitar line, unwound over delicate percussion, creating a mood that sounds like a soft dusk in a place I’ve never been to.
[8]

Juan F. Carruyo: A very effective two-tier structure — verse and a refrain- – that slow burns its way throughout: there’s no real climax to the song but it keeps you waiting for it. Might be a good tune to play just before a party gets started.
[6]

Ian Mathers: The verses work just fine, but (especially since it’s still hot here) the real appeal of “Pull Up” is the long, slow slide of the chorus refrain, which after a couple of listens rightly feels like it takes up most of the song’s time.
[6]

Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: The bluesy-by-way-of-highlife guitar is the song’s entire center, but the mixture of organic and digital percussion and Burna’s gift of melody crafting complete the spell. “Pull Up” just screams “late nights in the tropic” vibes; it works just as well in African clubs as it can do here in the Mexican Caribbean. 
[7]

Edward Okulicz: Burna Boy sounds like he’s singing this right in your ears — not loudly, just closely. The building blocks would all be relaxed slow-jam stuff (loose arrangement, languid melody) but combined they have a strange intensity. On paper it’s classic mixed messages (it’s not that deep, no, I love you), but it’s less muddled in the context of sound. 
[7]

Tim de Reuse: Ticklish, cluttered, and charming. There’s a million tunes out there with the same sparse arrangement, the same mild syncopation, and the same unchanging four-chord setup; but this one only supplies the barest skeleton of a dembow rhythm, leaving plenty of space for background details to curl around in the back of the mix. To boot, it’s mercifully void of trop-house bells, which might as well qualify as innovation.
[6]