Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé – Savage Remix
Emphasis on the “classic”…
[Video]
[8.20]
Tobi Tella: 2020 BB (Before B): Loose, playful, and catchy in all the right ways; reappropriation by 14 year olds on TikTok shouldn’t count against a song’s value. 2020 ABB (After Big B): Still in shock, probably the peak of music. I’m tempted to move to Houston right now.
[9]
Thomas Inskeep: Last month I said that the original version of “Savage” “commit[s] murder,” and then Beyoncé came on board? I don’t care who wrote her verses, because I love love love when Mrs. Carter raps — she has flow. That said, Megan has even more flow; she’s fast becoming a superstar (in part) because she deserves to be a superstar. The simple beat of “Savage” complements both Megan and Beyoncé’s lines just so, and in their hands this becomes an awesome tribute to H-Town (the city, not, well, H-Town). Savage indeed.
[9]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: The mere existence of this article and this tweet alone merits this remix at least a [7].
[7]
Leah Isobel: Beyoncé said sex worker rights.
[9]
Alex Clifton: Megan brings enough swagger to kill a horse, and Beyoncé is her usual grand self — she doesn’t even need to bring the swagger when her name is goddamn Beyoncé Knowles Carter. To score a Beyoncé feature before dropping your first real album is quite the accomplishment, and she’s great here, turning the volume up to 11 and keeping time with Megan’s rap game quite easily. I’ve listened to both versions at least fifteen times, and I’m still very much into it. Hell, I’ve tried to learn the TikTok dance for this, which is difficult as I normally dance like Lorde. (The only bit I can consistently get right is the hands on my head “acting stupid” movement.) A weird-ass quarantine meme to be sure, but it’s the kind of fun I need right now.
[8]
Alfred Soto: An excuse, no more or less, for a demonstration of above average rapping given by a charming outsized personality. Beyoncé, who contributes nothing of note, acknowledges the prowess on display.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: Beyoncé smoothly glides into the jump rope synths and Pringle can drums mixed in…. {here the writer trails off to watch Bey jump to fit her jeans on}. Megan keeps leaping back and forth with Bey while Bey just loops around each fiber and lifts Megan into the heavens with each priceless trill and vocal fill.
[10]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Every time Beyoncé raps we are given to speculate as to her skill — is she better than her duet partners? Her husband? Migos? These discussions miss the point entirely — Beyoncé’s goal while rapping is not to be good at rap but to be good at being Beyoncé, to envelop the rest of the track with her energy. On “Savage,” she does this with tactical excellence: she’s here at least three times, chiming in with verses in different styles and adlibs throughout. Part of the appeal, of course, is hearing Bey, who has mostly been playing towards timeless legacy and high art, reference OnlyFans and Demon Time. But even beyond that incongruity she still sounds commanding. And yet the “Savage” remix isn’t as triumphant as it could be. The song, once a spare exercise in Megan’s charisma, feels overstuffed as a duet. It’s fun, but it feels a little too mandatory to be that fun.
[7]
Will Adams: The original’s charm was its simplicity: just an A+ hook with knocking bass and two clustered chromatic chords. Sacrificing an ounce of that in favor of additional elements would seem egregious were it done by anyone other than Beyoncé. She’s in classic form on this remix, so full of ideas — a cooed “okay!” hook; memorable lines by the dozen — and more than adept at deploying them. That means there are some misses — the melodic contributions, in particular, clash at times — but overall this is a top entry for Song of the Summer That Never Was.
[7]
Nina Lea: Even in these dark times, nothing gets a girl going like the first real contender for Song of the Summer. Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé have given us a dream collab, the kind of fantasy pairing that makes sense on such a fundamental level that it feels like the goddess on high cracked open the skies to drop this track into our laps. The original “Savage” was catchy, punchy, and viral, but the reworking propels it to another stratosphere. Beyoncé sounds like she’s having the time of her life, tossing in winking references to Tik Tok, Demon Time and OnlyFans, shouting out her mother, and floating sweet harmonies over everything. Fellow Texan Megan Thee Stallion’s new verses prove that she can hold her own. We might be heading into Our Pandemic Summer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be Hot Girl Summer 2.0 at the same time.
[9]
Nina I love your blurb!!!
Thank you Alex! What can I say– when the power of Beyoncé moves you it MOVES you!!
Heartwarming: https://twitter.com/LeoVaradkar/status/1257741155787292672