Nick Jonas Featuring Tove Lo
“Close”
#27
Yes, the chorus is good, maybe even great, but you’ve heard it before, and it illuminates the weaknesses in Jonas’s voice in a way that almost makes me laugh. Tove Lo is Tove Lo, which means she’s essentially anonymous. And the lyrics are even more ridiculous than the norm. Next!
Kenny Chesney
“Noise”
#72
Chesney is almost astute when he says that all the noise of the modern world just makes us want to add more—it’s a banality, but it still has some resonance. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to realize that noise is unorganized sound, not mere volume. To Chesney, noise means loud, so he cranks up the guitars, gives lip service to the chaos that creates real noise, and congratulates himself for making a “statement”. I know that’s a lot more than most country singers manage, and I might give him half a point for trying, but that doesn’t mean I don’t find it overstated and obvious.
Young Thug
“With Them”, #87
“Digits”, #93
These mixtape tracks aren’t Young Thug at his best, but he’s still better than the rest. If, that is, the rest doesn’t include Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay Z, or Kendrick Lamar, who are all, or have been, on a level Young Thug has only aspired to. He thinks harder than the average rapper, and the words and beats on these two tracks are well above average, but somehow they don”t resonate the way they should. He’s got everything he needs, but it doesn’t mesh yet, at least not for me.
Fat Joe & Remy Ma Featuring French Montana
“All The Way Up”
#91
Nice to see the two of them having a hit this late in their careers, and with a good record, too. Funny and boastful, but never overdone. Fat Joe’s lazy flow suggests a comfort with his place and his career that more people should aspire to. He made it to where he wanted to be; now he’s soaking it in.
Luke Bryan
“Huntin’, Fishin’ & Lovin’ Every Day”
#92
Even when he’s in celebratory mode, Bryan sounds ponderous. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this kind of rural fantasy—there are even a couple of jokes—but Bryan sounds so damn solemn with his masculine mid-tempos and stoic voice. You’d swear he was bemoaning a dying lifestyle rather than living one up.
Young Greatness
“Moolah”
#95
He won’t let her kiss him because she’s been sucking dick, and he won’t fuck her because he just had his dick sucked. Do I need to go on?
A$AP Ferg Featuring Future
“New Level”
#97
Some people seem to think this is terrible. I think it’s competent, but dull. Which is how I’ve always felt about the A$AP crew. Ferg has been gaining in subtlety and craft, but he lacks wisdom and wit. He’s getting away with things, rather than shaping them.
MadeinTYO
“Uber Everywhere”
#99
It makes sense not to make an investment in a car or rent limos when you’re first starting out in the business and have yet to generate a decent cash flow. Other than being the Walmart of taxi services and destroying local economies, there’s nothing wrong with riding Uber, either. But releasing raps that sound like they were written by your driver is going too far.