The Singles Jukebox

Are you noticing a pattern to our scores?

[Video]
[5.14]

Crystal Leww: While both eschew grime, Section Boyz stand in stark contrast to J Hus’s sunny demeanor on “Lean & Bop,” biting Chicago drill instead. However, “Do the Road” reminds me most of Bobby Shmurda, himself a New Yorker’s imitation of drill. They are being heavily pushed by the industry, getting co-signs from Drake, opportunities to share the stage with Rita Ora, and of course, shortlisted for the BBC Sound Of. Bobby Shmurda got away with his imitation because his freestyle was endlessly fun on dance floors and because people liked the way he threw his hat. “Do the Road” bangs weakly, and not one of the Section Boyz rappers leaves a single impression.
[4]

Micha Cavaseno: Section Boyz are liked and they’ve had hits with surprising ease, despite the fact that only one kid (Swift) seems to be able to rap well. Even their best song (“Lock Arff”) relies more on the hook than any bars (as proven by how swiftly the outpouring of remixes overwhelmed the original). The beat for “Do the Road” is particularly weak, sounding like a one-note attempt to copy the Jahlil Beats instrumental for Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot N***a.” It just seems curious that the same way K Koke was held over the rest of his peers seemingly inexplicably when Road Rap first emerged (only to be forgotten once Krept & Konan finally got their deserved shine), the Stanas, Teflons, Tribez, LDs, Nines, J Hus, Potters, Reekz and so many others with street hits have such a glass ceiling and these kids with little to offer gain so much.
[2]

Alfred Soto: Not much to chew on besides an electronic carousel backing and a distorted title hook, the latter not helped by sounding flat.
[4]

Brad Shoup: Mightily grim trap production, with the added sounds of detonated cardboard boxes on the hook. 2016’s best use of the ʉ sound so far.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: Derivative and not even derivative of 2015, let alone ’16. The Yu-Gi-Oh bit doesn’t help.
[3]

Thomas Inskeep: Great 808-built crew rap that clearly owes a debt to So Solid Crew, with claustrophobic production like Tricky manning the boards for Scarface. 
[7]

Megan Harrington: The juxtaposition of regional affectations and the transatlantic flight of trap is what makes “Do the Road” particularly compelling. The dark production suits the island that birthed trip hop, IDM, and grime; the unsubtle mawkishness of the genre’s customary strings is replaced with references to That’s So Raven and Yu-Gi-Oh. Though they never breach silly, Section Boyz are decidedly lighthearted about their pursuits and there’s more than a whiff of performance when they veer into toughness. 
[9]