BUT WAIT! WHAT’S THIS?…
[Video][Website]
[6.67]
Martin Skidmore: The opening moments of this remind me of Dick Dale, the hyper rumbling guitar line turning into dancehally backing for a grime track, with plenty of other stuff going on. I really like the production, and while I’d like to support a Tottenham neighbour, I don’t find him such an interesting MC – and I’m a bit mystified by someone choosing to claim to ride the beat like a tractor.
[7]
Frank Kogan: Think he’s the only grime guy I’ve ever written about on Rolling Country, my impetus being the quick James Bond surf’n’spy rhythm at the start, the source of which is hillbilly guitar boogies, and that he rides this motherfuckin’ beat like a traktor. As you can tell, we set the bar for relevance at Rolling Country really high. Anyhow, glad that the rural midlands (midland what, I’m not sure, the k in traktor implying Belarus or somewhere) are getting represented in London clubs.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: Less a tractor than a tractor beam going by the backing, a sci-fi dream of laser zaps and synth burbles placed somewhere between The Knife and an old PC shooter. Sounds great, but it can’t make up for Wretch’s unremarkable flow (how much skill does it take to ride a beat like a train? Hint: you can fall asleep) or his lyrics, which include the likes of “I’m fly, I am not an insect.” And who thought this needed a sweet piano bridge?
[5]
Josh Langhoff: Which is it, traktor or train? The traktor is slow and workmanlike, but at least you’re in control, whereas the train is speedy and passive, maybe a means of escape. Maybe once Wretch can answer that question, he’ll get his personal life straightened out and start acknowledging my existence when I speak to him at The Club. I really like when all the beat elements come together — the rippling guitar plus the synth boops plus the meowing lemur. Is Jeremy Kyle like Jerry Springer?
[8]
Jonathan Bogart: I had to look up the Jeremy Kyle Show. (Jerry Springer with Estuary accents, apparently.) I like the chittering, uneasy background, I like Wretch 32’s pop-grime flow. I could do without L’s r&b-lite interpolation, and this isn’t a killer single. But as something with even a little hustle and charm to it after all these damn retro acts, it’ll do.
[7]
Kat Stevens: It would be utterly amazing if Emmerdale started using this as its theme song, but ITV probably wouldn’t be happy about Wretch casting negative aspersions on Jeremy Kyle. Perhaps The Archers might go for it instead? An Agricultural Soap Bidding War!
[7]
Tom Ewing: The “terribly wild”/”Jeremy Kyle” line isn’t a bad one: if it cropped up once, in a verse, you’d smile. Repeated three times as part of the pre-chorus, though, it suggests Wretch 32 isn’t exactly brimming with great lyrics. There’s something a little forced about his delivery too – all those trailing “eyyy”s are kind of like nudges in the ribs after a joke. I don’t want to dislike it – surf guitar samples should be even more of a pop staple than they are – but the truth is I find this really irritating.
[3]
Alex Macpherson: Wretch 32 has been around the UK hip-hop scene for donkey’s years. In all that time he’s never particularly impressed me — which makes him probably the first MC for whom going commercial is an improvement. It’s partly the chorus, catchy but not oppressively so, enjoyable despite the oddly contradictory juxtaposition of “choo-choo, go harder”. But it’s mostly the beat — a rather brilliant affair involving a spaghetti western thrum, traffic jam horns, judicious electro rushes and far-off voodooesque cries. Like last year’s “Pass Out”, it’s a demonstration of how unlikely elements can be made to cohere to the extent that their oddity is easily overlooked. But though Wretch 32 doesn’t disgrace himself, one wishes someone with Tinie Tempah’s charisma had taken it on. I eagerly anticipate the Princess Nyah remix.
[7]
Zach Lyon: The edited version had me thinking the chorus went “I ride smart/beat it like a tractor/I ride smart,” rather than “I ride this motherfucking beat like a tractor” which is why it always helps to seek out the dirty cut. But that enlightenment really doesn’t matter: the important thing is that the chorus is catchy as some get-out and I’ve been singing “beat it like a traaaaain/chooo chooooo” to myself all week, and that’s worth something. And it’s always nice to hear more club hey!‘s reaching across the Atlantic, for me anyway.
[8]