Next, from Ada, something that’s apparently neither Skepta nor JME…

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[6.22]

David Moore: Haven’t heard this kinda grime in a while; usually I’d figure, er, that’s just me (e.g., I thought I “discovered” Clean Bandit on Spotify without realizing they were number one all year!) but the dusty reference to Simon Cowell briefly suggested the nostalgia might be intentional. Several years ago I’m sure this would have been Jukebox catnip. Have things changed?
[8]

Iain Mew: Next to 2014’s other two JME-featuring chart hits, “That’s Not Me” suffers from a lack of the focus that the tightly defined subject matter of “German Whip” and “RariWorkOut” brought, and Skepta rambles into fruitless territory more than once. On the other hand, its chiptune dungeon bounce is great, and it has the best JME verse of the lot (“People ask what music I make, turn the volume up cos that’s what!”) Plus, “I used to wear Gucci, put it all in the bin ‘cos that’s not me”: humblebrag of the century.
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Alfred Soto: Ten years after its peak and grime revivalists surround us with their bass synths and Sega effects. “The nostalgia backdrop,” JME calls it. Wiley has the aggression, not to mention the ability to claim it’s not him.
[4]

Mark Sinker: The shaping percussion clink that build the sound — so adrenalised, so claustrophopic, so gnarled and static — reminds even non-thumbwarrior me of an FX sound from late-days Tomb Raider (“Curse of the Sword”). The Game Boy-savvy can likely pin down its chip-source exactly, but wherever it’s from, it’s a signal of the eternal return of deadly peril. So of course it’s perfect for a grime-rap that weaves present naysaying into acknowledgement of past error: ten years on and more, this remains a trapped, frenetic, risk-strewn, obsessive-compulsive world, Skepta and his brother half in and half out of well-observed character, half in denial and half mocking it (“I’m still alive, just like Tupac”).
[8]

Jonathan Bradley: Next to Boy in Da Corner, this only sounds trad cause it doesn’t sound like Calvin Harris. The Pac line’s worth a throwback smirk though, and so is the Simon Cowell one. How devastating is the image of the binned Gucci? Once I’m done writing this blurb, I’m saying a prayer for the lost souls of luxury label pieces cut down in their prime. This isn’t like the time Kendrick swore off designer shit: nup, nowhere near.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: Not groundbreaking, in fact, it wouldn’t have been groundbreaking ten years ago, but the pleasures of hearing lovely Britishisms (or at least non-Americanisms) like “sus” and “bin” thrown at a pleasingly speedy pace will never get old. Not every line hits, but enough do, and I love the mix of Skepta’s ironic and cheesy bragadoccio and JME’s straighter arrows. Grime-y songs that you can strut to are an underappreciated commodity.
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Micha Cavaseno: Cowardice should never be presented as heroism, yet here we are. Joseph Adenuga clearly knows that a decade after grime’s rise to prominence, his numerous attempts at dance-pop, commercial rap and pornographic antics have left his audience cold, so he dives headfirst into nostalgia, draping himself in the former garb of a younger Skepta, vehemently denying leaving the scene that bore him. But this isn’t the vicious Autopsy Freestyle he’s trying to reference, transporting us back to the realm where this same man once relentlessly snarled about stomping hooves on the heads of 12 year olds with immeasurable menace. If anything, it’s a highly functional Eddie Kane moment, a shameful clutch at one’s past glories. Little brother JME hovers nearby, doing his precociously incisive nerd schtick. It works suitably for the brief cameo, but as someone who’s actually never strayed too far from his origins, it only further undermines the goal.
[3]

Brad Shoup: The hook had me feeling like Chris Rock — like, congratulations, you’re over the baseline — but it’s more fun considering Skepta having to repent of wearing Louis and Gucci and JME cheerfully copping to nostalgia. The cut’s steeped in the stuff: Simon Cowell and 2Pac jokes, Wiley samples, references to past successes. Defiance isn’t a great pop move, but the right to be corny’s in my constitution.
[6]

Will Adams: That’s that shit I am somewhat okay with.
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