Jidenna – Knickers
Not actually about knickers, so that word is still available for Flo Rida or Waka or Wiz Khalifa or someone to ruin next year.
[Video][Website]
[5.33]
Cassy Gress: He dropped the taut, metallic sax bopping for a more modern R&B sound just in time for “and now we made it…”, but I kind of liked the metallic sax. By the time we get to “put my knickers on,” it’s lost so much tension that it’s starting to remind me of the Jay-Z verse in “Suit & Tie.” His voice is awfully silky on “show up, show up”, though; my brain has been happily looping that for a few days now. There’s not even a hint of vibrato in his voice through the whole song except for the little waver on the end of “made it”, and it feels like a wink. But I was really hoping this song would be about knickers.
[6]
Micha Cavaseno: Remember when I discussed how Jidenna is actually a pop-rapper who works in thwarting and reacting to the techniques and tropes of Atlanta Rap? Yeah, its so simple: the Knickers pun is an obvious little twist on the syllable-clicky-delivery of you-know-the-word best used in Rich Homie Quan’s hook on YG’s “My N***a,” returning it back to his ‘classic man’ retro-branding. He has trap-snares and swing riffs, a perfectly adequate backing for the retro-mindedness Jidenna now has tied to his ankle. And thankfully, where “Long Live” also finally gave his conservatism a stalwart energy that was admirable, “Knickers” really works out to display his politics with those sneers at institutional racism via police and the music industry. Much to my surprise, a guy who gave me heart palpitations from the conflicting messages of his persona is now using it for the better and making sure that the goal isn’t to be like his version of success necessarily, but rather success in spite of the many pitfalls designed for people like Jidenna to fail.
[7]
Alfred Soto: I’m fine with this updated swing in theory, not when the sample gets treated like “Mambo No. 5” and the lyrics are dumb-dumb instead of catchy-dumb. The new and improved Jason Derulo would’ve relished that title conceit.
[3]
Jonathan Bogart: As with “Classic Man,” the beat’s too laid-back to be authentically retro (people danced at 120 bpm before house music, honest), but the groove’s not bad and soul-jazz (which is what it’s actually recreating) makes a better hip-hop bed than swing anyway. And the politics are better than “Classic Man,” which if it didn’t explicitly say “pull up your pants” at least implied it.
[7]
Juana Giaimo: Jidenna has learnt from his labelmate Janelle Monáe that smiling can be as powerful as being angry and serious. “Knickers” is musically fun and danceable with a catchy chorus, but behind his handsome attitude, Jidenna has strong and meaningful words. It’s a celebration of what was achieved and it features a positive attitude to go through the racism that is still present in society. However, behind that charming smile there is also a lot of irony; there is a man watching and paying attention to all your tricks, a man who won’t be taken for a fool and who won’t be scared to point out your faults, but probably in the most elegant way.
[8]
Brad Shoup: The track is tinny and diminished — Jidenna is unwilling to stick to a theme, so they all just clump together, like the funk synth filigree and the swing ostinato. When he busts out a tribute to some particular lady, the passion is there. But the lady on the track treats it like just another input.
[5]
Jibril Yassin: Jidenna’s hook game might be the only thing keeping this song from drowning in a massive vat of cheese. The horn-infused production feels more natural than Mustard knock-offs but the verses feel stiff with all those hamfisted racial metaphors. Jidenna comes off sounding woefully out of place even as he tries his hardest to showcase how loose he can get.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: “Knickers” is such a delightfully bad punchline of a word that its potential for greatness in song is so much higher than, say, “panties” might be, and the swing touches would have complemented it perfectly. Alas, it’s a minced use of the word, what a waste. The awkwardness of the mesh between the swing and the beat is a pity too, best exemplified by how the song sounds better when the former or latter gets out of the way of the other.
[4]
Thomas Inskeep: Flipping swing music into a trappish R&B track is clever. Using “knickers” as a “clever” substitute for “n—-s,” not so much.
[4]
This is what I imagine Macklemore would write if he could say the n-word.