The Singles Jukebox

TO BE THE MAN, YOU GOTTA BEAT THE MAN!!

[Video]
[5.33]

Julian Axelrod: Somehow this already sounds like a throwback. In the bygone era of October 2017 — before Offset cheated on Cardi, before we were reminded of his latent homophobia, before one of the most unfortunate neck tattoos in recent memory — the Migos were riding high, so high that Offset had enough juice to cut his semi-solo debut with the hottest rapper and producer in the world. But even in the wake of Offset’s recent misfortunes, “Ric Flair Drip” still goes. Metro lays down a deceptively simple beat by his own standards, which means it occasionally disintegrates into weird whale calls that sound like an Old West standoff at the bottom of the ocean. This spare backdrop gives Offset a blank canvas to spray a polysyllabic Jackson Pollack painting of jet skis, hula hoops and holy scriptures. Offset’s legacy may be complicated, but that hook will be stuck in my brain forever.
[8]

Ryo Miyauchi: For all I’ve heard my friends recite the titular line and hit that attached “woo” with enthusiasm, it barely scans as a hook inside the record. Offset seems more concerned to nail that quadruple time flow, like he figured the only way to one up the Culture vultures is go even faster. It’s only a natural strategy to come from the most technique-obsessed Migos, though it’s a mindset that doesn’t result in too much pop fun. Not enough to live up to that wrestler reference, certainly.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: The point here is Offset’s technical skill, and a beat with more going on would be unnecessary distraction — but does that mean it should sound this dated?
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Offset delivers word salad over a too-basic Metro Boomin beat, and I’m bored.
[3]

Iain Mew: There are some intriguing hints of fragility at the edges of the instrumental in the ways it stretches and slows. As catchy as the hook is, though, Offset performs the whole track as too monolithic to make anything of that possibility.
[5]

Stephen Eisermann: If Halloween was magically turned into a hip-hop beat, it’d sound like this — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The beat is slick, if off-putting, and Offset does his best work flowing through more brags about his status, money, etc. It’s Offset’s best work, sure, but that doesn’t mean this is particularly good.
[6]