The Singles Jukebox

Oh nooooooooooo

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[1.75]

Andy Hutchins: Amethyst Amelia Kelly hasn’t had a top-40 hit in the U.S. since “Pretty Girls,” which stupefyingly miscast 2015 Britney as Charli XCX. Yet she still has a Universal deal for reasons I am just sure do not boil down to being an Amazonian blonde, so here she is doing a bloodless Rihanna impression with Quavo as human hood pass hot co-sign du jour utterly uninterested hook man, singing a song about needing saving in the form of a partner. It’s nigh impossible not to read the hook and this song as a distressed damsel looking for rescue in both romantic and professional contexts, though — which makes the safe, effective, and years-behind-trend tropichill production from Dr. Luke-affiliated lieutenants, of all fucking people, even more disappointing. Desperation should sound desperate, not dispassionate, for one — but no one should be this desperate, Iggs.
[3]

Katherine St Asaph: Apparently Dr. Luke may have Alan Smitheed himself into the credits of “Savior” via dick-joke pseudonym, which is more interesting than anything in the song.
[1]

William John: We do not have to keep doing this. Truly. Tkay Maidza is readying her second album; Briggs and Baker Boy continue to break new ground for First Nations artists; Miss Blanks is a shoutout or two away from setting the world on fire. If you really need Australian hip-hop in your life, then you can do better than paying further heed to this lifeless track, where everything is slurred at half-speed, and exaggeratedly over-enunciated like it’s part of an elocution lesson on invented, fraudulent accents.
[1]

Rebecca A. Gowns: I can’t stop thinking about “The Making and Unmaking of Iggy Azalea.” The incredible hubris, the just deserts. Everything she makes from now on just seems like an endnote, unnecessary add-ons to a career that’s already finished. If she’s trying to combat her notoriety as a cultural thief and a flash in the pan, cribbing lines from a much more soulful hit is doing her no favors.
[1]

Edward Okulicz: The beat is basic but potentially breezy and fun, and would have made for a solid base for a light jam on top by someone who oozes carefree confidence. What doesn’t fit is Iggy Azalea at her most strident wannabe-tough, which she does on just about every song she does. Azalea wouldn’t know fun, or what to do with it, even if you made an hourlong mixtape on the subject and told her to go appropriate.
[3]

Micha Cavaseno: Ignoring the considerable failures of Iggy Azalea to not get herself into conflicts where her ever damaged reputation continues to fray and fracture or even the fact that as a rapper she’s never quite found the sweet spot beyond competency, it seems a bit of a wild move for someone like her to go for straight ahead pop rap without any hesitation. I mean, by the time this review drops “Fancy” will have been released roughly 4 years prior and since then Iggy’s commercial presence has been fairly close to non-existent. Granted, the rap audience was never going to be her saving grace no matter how hard she could try to please them, or infuriate them even, but I don’t see a generic dance pop record featuring the most overexposed of the Migos (unless you read headlines in which Offset’s managed to outdo his kin this past year) being the move to right the ship and allow Iggy to finally have the career of her dreams.
[2]

Will Adams: There’s almost something pitiable about how every move Iggy has made post-2014 sends her falling on her face; in the case of “Savior,” streaming services snitching on her for having worked with pop’s most hated producer. But it’s hard to stay sympathetic when she doubles down on her denial (“try again”) while ASCAP still holds the receipts. Other things working against her: quoting Lisa Stansfield in that still awful, still fake accent; being one of the last people on planet Earth to get a Quavo verse; trop house that can barely keep its eyes open.
[3]

Alfred Soto: What is this — an EGK reading? a brain wave sample? a fish blowing a bubble? a fart? With Quavo entering his ubiquitous phase, he’s required to do yeoman’s work for fading stars. Iggy shows her gratitude by sharing with him the words of her favorite late ’80s neo-disco tune.
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