The Singles Jukebox

Soooo, drinks are on you, then?

[Video]
[3.50]Tobi Tella: As a college student who simultaneously complains about never having money and immediately spends paychecks on various food delivery options, this should be right up my alley- finally a pop song for those of us with bad financial planning skills! Unfortunately, this just sounds like a lot of noise to me. Ella Eyre gives a performance mistaking “loud” for good, Meghan Trainor just repeats “gimme dat money” over and over again, and French Montana gives a forgettable verse (although I probably should have expected that one). Sometimes I miss fun flashy pop hits, and then I look at some of the gaudy stuff like this that succeeds in the UK and realize maybe it’s for the best.
[4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The kind of song where wondering about the politics of who got an “&” and who got a “ft.” is far more interesting than the song itself.
[3]

Alfred Soto: The mystery of who got paid when and how much, who got a credit after the by but before the ampersand and after “ft,” and whether anyone notified Johnny Kemp did keep me up Thursday night.
[1]

Katherine St Asaph: An unlikely companion to Kacey Musgraves’ “Space Cowboy,” in the hyperspecific category of “songs that are nowhere near as good as the cheesy track” — itself a remake of a cheesy track — “off No Strings Attached.” (Or Katy B, Zinc and Wiley’s absolute banger.) I await with trepidation the 2019 single by Clean Bandit, Jorja Smith, Bebe Rexha and 2 Chainz called “Digital Get Down.”
[4]

Will Adams: Is it any surprise that a song that piles on the feature credits and sonic references — a little Nile Rodgers revivalism here, a little sleazy Dr. Luke electro there, a lot of dopey disco of the Galantis variety — with the discernment of the Family Guy manatees ends up leaving so little impression? “Just Got Paid” neither achieves the glee of Katy B, nor does it offer any refreshing critique of the subject the way Riton and Kah-lo did. It’s not that relatability is a problem in itself, it’s just that too often the way in manifests is in dead-eyed “am I right?” tropes.
[4]

Taylor Alatorre: Never before have the words been uttered: “French Montana’s verse saved this.” In this case he can’t entirely overcome Sigala’s sociopathic abuse of disco signifiers in service to the Protestant work ethic, but he does his damnedest to distract us from that horror show with his incurable clownishness. “Sports bra, sports car driver” is the kind of line Flo Rida would come up with after attending half of a poetry writing seminar: it’s dumb, it makes no sense, but it’s indelible enough to make you wonder if, just maybe, it does. Other than a perfunctory nod to the title, his verse is tied to the theme in only the loosest sense, which is all for the better. If it’s about anything, it’s a celebration of Montana himself and his unlikely endurance in the pop music scene: “when you hear the ‘haan,’ there it go.” Indeed.
[4]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: If I were any of the vocalists here, I would audition for a part in a future DreamWorks musical production and put “Just Got Paid” at the top of my CV. Despite some of the PG-13 lyrics, this really sounds like music for children. At the very least, it sounds like something for people who don’t know about unwise spending. Where’s the uninhibited thrill-seeking? Where’s the unspoken but constant fending off of potential buyer’s remorse? Where’s the fear in checking one’s bank account to see their dwindling balance? “Just Got Paid” doesn’t need to include any of these things, but it certainly needs something to sound convincing. Should’ve spent some money on that, huh.
[3]

Julian Axelrod: I loved Sigala and Ella Eyre’s last collaboration because it found pockets of nuance and sincerity within its walloping wave of sound. But if you want nuance, you don’t call Meghan Trainor and French Montana. The guests’ cash-grab mentality rubs off on our hosts, with Ella Eyre turning in one of her biggest and least interesting vocal turns and Sigala pumping the last breaths out of the Nile Rodgerssance. I’m also seriously worried about Ella Eyre’s savings account, but maybe I’m just projecting.
[5]