The Singles Jukebox

Seems like there’s another party happening over here…

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[4.83]

Ashley John: Pure and light and positive, “Boa Me” sounds like sun beaming down on the peaks of my shoulders for the first time since fall. It’s the burn to dance without the urgency, just the absolute rightness of smiling and swaying my hips. 
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: Fuse ODG’s beat mellows in pace especially with that acoustic riff hanging on. Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, gets to reside in a pop place distanced from his own. Everybody involved for “Boa Me” takes a break from their usual gig all to give thanks. And it’s better to be taken as that: a break spot to visit but not to frequent.
[5]

Micha Cavaseno: The disappointing aspects of “Boa Me” is definitely Ed Sheeran, but not in the way of “OH GOD HERE COMES ED SHEERAN.” Rather, the unfortunate thing is that in the UK, Fuse has been eagerly and desperately campaigning to grant legitimacy to the new wave of African music, and in the past few years he’s more or less gotten his wish. One can not only think of several Afrobeats stars (as well as other African genre acts) getting more than tertiary coverage in the non-African music press but more than a few genres with overt links to said genres in traditionally Western styles. So does Fuse get to have a commercial triumph based on that victory? No, it’s at the benevolence of Ed Sheeran, whose technically enjoyed the biggest post-Afrobeats victory with “Shape of You” and has bothered to be generous enough to let someone else get a rub off his patronage. “Boa Me” is a charming record, but the warble of Sheeran is just a bit too depressing a compromise to make it feel like something Fuse ODG deserves.
[4]

Alfred Soto: I can’t begrudge the enthusiasm with which the participants approach this stab at highlife, and Sheeran does what he does best, i.e. sell and sing a hook, but his sinuosity has assumed sinister proportions, spreading an affectlessness like an unwanted mayo.
[4]

Julian Axelrod: Ed Sheeran seems like the kind of guy who does a semester abroad and constantly uses the three foreign phrases he learned in every conversation.
[4]

Will Adams: I’ll take Sheeran singing a chorus in the Ghanaian dialect of Twi over him doing an entire highlife song on his own, but it still smacks of him parachuting into the sound after “Shape of You” took off. The best thing that can come from “Boa Me” is that it spurs listeners unfamiliar with these styles to seek out more examples that aren’t as bland as this.
[5]