The Singles Jukebox

“It” being “that annoying tree to the east of Cerulean City,” right…?

[Video][Website]
[5.83]

Anjy Ou: I feel like OT Genasis is trying to be the rapping business guru of the drug world. This feels less like a celebration of balling like a drug dealer and more like a promo for his eventual NYT bestseller I Fell In Love With The Coco: How to Get Rich Selling Drug Music. It helps that OT knows how to write a catchy hook. The piano intro was unexpected, and the beat that it becomes is sparse but solid. The track loses steam once Young Dolph comes in, though: his rap is much less convincing, almost like he just popped in to say “Hey, I have money too!” But I doubt we’ll be going to him for advice on how to raise your net worth to $1.5 million.
[5]

Taylor Alatorre: The title of this song’s mixtape, R&B: Rhythm & Bricks, is so perfect that it will probably be reappropriated for a “New Atlanta” compilation album someday. Ironically, “Cut It” may not be considered memorable enough to make it onto such a compilation, but it also isn’t “memorable” in the forced way that “CoCo” was. With their skillful use of ad-libs and amiable vocal tricks, OT and Dolph are able to prevent this ode to single-minded trapping from descending into formalistic drudgery. The sense of organic collaboration is low-key endearing as well. Even if I could decide which one sounds more at home rapping over Zaytoven-inspired piano and organ flourishes, I wouldn’t want to play favorites. A well-earned retreat from Vine rap purgatory.
[7]

Brad Shoup: Everything beside the backseat slanging works OK: a couple guys happy with their work, figuring out how to spend their paychecks over members-only piano.
[6]

Ryo Miyauchi: OT Genasis tries to raise the bar by triple-timing his last words, but Young Dolph reminds that one thing people keep forgetting when they borrow from Migos — bugged-out energy.
[5]

Jonathan Bogart: Trap music in the mid-2010s reminds me of nothing so much as late 1940s and early 50s jump blues: they share formal limitations, comic hyperbole about criminal prowess, homosocial posturing, and a tidal surge of regional production as the old music distribution networks broke down. Once jump blues was adopted by the white overground, of course, it became rock ‘n’ roll, whereupon it was erased from history. Basically, I’m saying enjoy “Cut It” while you can.
[6]

Gin Hart: To interact with this song is to engage in multi-directional abstraction. Having never baked me a pie in the manner young Odis claims to have mastered, I strip back the alien connotation and am left with an imagined sensory whimsy: OT crimping the crust of the strawberry rhubarb confection he’s gonna serve all his friends at what’s shaping up to be a delightful block party. Smells great. It is indicative of my privileges that I get to rework the lexicon. As I’ve never participated in the economy of crack cocaine, the eponymous “cut” dips into the laid-back trap sound to gift me with a workable meaning. “Cut it,” rolls from OT’s tongue in a mildly peeved drawl, sounding like “cool it,” “chill out,” “relax, man.” I like this song. Every time I hear it, I check myself. Am I doing too much? Is my blood pressure high? Do I need to cut it? Thanks for keeping me grounded, OT Genasis ft. Young Dolph. 
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