Nelly ft. T.I. and 2 Chainz – Country Ass Nigga
Nelly. Uh, he’s OK, we guess.
[Video][Website]
[5.50]
Edward Okulicz: Nelly’s always been a better purveyor of rap as a subset of dance music than he is an exponent of rap for its own sake, and within about four seconds of the chorus, I was having severe Big K.R.I.T. withdrawal symptoms.
[4]
Anthony Easton: Et in Arcadia, Ego — the urbanity restores itself to its rural routes, the country never leaves, the original sin was in a garden, and even in the garden (even when pulling bars, even stripped to the drawers) the sin retains its rural dirt. The singing chorus reminds us a bit of that lost purity and the repeating of a tight chorus reminds us more. That said, it seems an obvious point repeated more than it should be.
[6]
John Seroff: Drumma Boy’s retread John Carpenter hook is a throwaway, so let’s focus on the names on the tin. Nelly (always more interesting as a personality than a rapper) and T.I. (casual, sharp and smooth) are established commodities but the casual hip hop fan may not immediately place 2 Chainz. Chainz is the new nom de plume of Playaz Circle’s Tity Boi, who is taking the Peedi Peedi path to a more radio-friendly moniker. With a certifiable hit under his belt, 2 Chainz gets a fair amount of shine online and in the industry; both of the better-known players on the track shout him out by name and cede him the final verse. It’s a lot of build-up for an unremarkable few bars and an at-best laconic style that defines “Country Ass” as serviceable but difficult to get excited about.
[5]
Brad Shoup: The intro preps the title as something our men get reduced to, but everything after turns it into a populist badge. I’m a little annoyed by the spoken vocal under Nelly’s; he always sounds like he’s double-tracked anyway, especially when he’s doing the sing-song thing. But 2 Chainz gets all the points for the Sosa joke, and Drumma Boy gets synths to sound like tubas, and the track like a nightsquall.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Ignorant! Belligerent! At least T.I. can still sell a redoubtable concept. But the other billed star can’t sell a song as country as IKEA.
[4]
Katherine St Asaph: Nelly with rappers (OK, mainly with 2 Chainz; T.I. is acres from both his sweet spot and anyplace country) and Drumma Boy’s melodrama > Nelly with soppy slush by fake Ryan Tedder.
[7]
T.I. exceeds here.
Seriously — the rest is so terrible. But I’m a sucker for *anything* T.I. does. This would have snagged a begruding [4] from me, mostly for the *rather* interesting video …
“Et in Arcadia, Ego — the urbanity restores itself to its rural routes, the country never leaves, the original sin was in a garden, and even in the garden (even when pulling bars, even stripped to the drawers) the sin retains its rural dirt.”
I think this bit is pretty great. :D