The Singles Jukebox

…uh yeah. Hi.

[Video][Website]
[5.00]

Lilly Gray: Minor deity Tao has summoned us all to listen to his impassioned recounting of betrayal, the echoes of which turn into thunderclouds in the mortal realm. Thing is, ironclad swag aside, it’s hard to eagerly attend to the tale of someone else’s unfocused, back-and-forth relationship drama for any extended amount of time. Wiz’s appearance in the heavenly court hopefully implies future team-ups — Lil Jon and Kris, anyone? — but he acts only as a herald, delivering a boilerplate reminder of their status, just catching us up, money and hoes, etc, before Tao takes the floor. Tao accuses the nameless of never telling him the truth, but in a piano-backed land of uncertainty, the realest part is his “oh, it’s happening”: halfway between a decision and a lament. Flashes of humanity are appreciated, but most of us in attendance are trying to look awake and avoid being struck by lightening. 
[4]

Cassy Gress: I had high hopes for this, after the jittery glitterbomb that was the last thing I heard from him. And I’m not really disappointed: they threw together this with a pinch of this and then brought in the Imagine Dragons drummer guy to top it all off. Z. Tao’s chorus is almost reminiscent of Adele’s in the way he says “hello.” Can’t understand what Wiz is doing here, though, other than confusing lyrics transcribers who have never heard of Turks and Caicos.
[8]

Adaora Ede: Ever since his departure from EXO, Tao has made gallant efforts to display his #Baller lifestyle. Tao displays key ballerisms even just in the music video: tiny ponytail, WOES hat, and all. Every once in a while though, the baller needs to reflect on the sad aspects of his life with a phone light-waving pseudo-ballad and a Wiz Khalifa feature to make sure that we know that while he’s kinda bummed, he’s still poppington. Tao serves the “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” remorse-cum-nostalgia minus mega doucheness. Wiz’s verse in this song is highly reminiscent of that era in early-mid-2000s K-Pop where entertainment companies would use auctioned-off American rap verses in songs and if we were lucky, stick in a holographic image of that rapper somewhere in the video. Z. Tao’s actually got Wiz next to him blowing smoke rings so that’s at least an automatic +[2]. Even with a middling hip hop ballad, the braggadocious nature of Tao as an artist and a person creates an aura of sincerity.
[7]

Crystal Leww: I am a native Chinese speaker and it took me three listens to figure out that Z. Tao is rapping in Chinese. This is odd, given Z. Tao is a native speaker. As a result, his phrasing sounds awkward and his flow is a mess. The production is already snoozy to start, but it also exposes his rapping flaws because it’s doing so little. Wiz Khalifa is here too, I guess, but seemingly just for the paycheck.
[3]

Mo Kim: There would be an interesting point to make here about cross-cultural hip-hop and the way in which Wiz Khalifa and Z. Tao interact through the song — that is, if the snoozy backing track, repetition, and lack of dramatic progression didn’t put me to sleep before I could make it. The percussive hits are flashes of thunder on a rainy Monday.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: On the one hand, it’s great big-name Western artists are working with Asian pop stars, yay! But man, does this scene really need to feel validated via a Wiz Khalifa feature?  Z. Tao delivers solid, melancholy verses that match up with the woozy backing music. Khalifa does enough to get a paycheck.
[4]

Taylor Alatorre: So many mood swings that its defining mood can only be described as “moodiness.” Wiz pops in to remind us of the wonders that exist outside the cramped confines of Z. Tao’s head, like award shows and, um, Pittsburgh. It’s so disjointed that it fits right in.
[4]

Brad Shoup: When Z. Tao finally gets his dander up, it’s a tonal rhyme with Khalifa’s verse, which otherwise might as well be him endorsing his check on the pop blocker. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I’ll take it. A lot of care went into a few elements: the backwards melody, the drums that crack like thunder, even the boudoir piano.
[7]

Jessica Doyle: Our hero is back! And no less dramatic for it. Since striking out on his own he has only gone up, on the strength of his home market and his ability to summon F5 tornadoes of self-pity at will. That said, I think his aim was a little off here. Generic break-up songs don’t suit him: at this stage he really needs something specific to get upset about. And Wiz Khalifa’s verse feels disconnected, as if Team Tao wanted his presence but wasn’t sure how to write for him. This could be a case of subsequent releases never living up to the first — but I doubt it. The guy has filmed two different variety shows and a movie recently, after all; switching between jobs is probably costing him something in the short run. Give him time to build up his skills, and something solid to work with — the evocations of thunder here are promising — and he’ll be slaying like a damn arithmetician.
[4]