We wouldn’t go quite that far.. maybe “no perfecto”.
[Video][Website]
[5.50]
Anthony Easton: The unrelenting ego of this leads to Kanye levels of self-sanctification, and it does not have the same wit to justify it. But it has an inflated production, a global, all-absorbing push… it refuses to justify itself; all of those choirs and all that spitting venom combine to make some serious fronting. It doesn’t need the wit.
[8]
Iain Mew: “No Bueno” is maximalist in comparison to “New York,” and slower and easier to digest than “Werkin’ Girls,” but it’s still not a pop move. It’s way too harsh for that, even when Angel Haze eventually takes a break for air, or when she’s singing, since that’s just about as fearsome sounding as her rapping. The song is impressively full-on, but it feels more like a second album “here I am, I can still do this” statement than the startling introduction of either of the previous singles.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Not up to “Werkin’ Girls” or the four or five other astonishing tracks on Reservation, but as a crossover move it recontextualizes her bravado and her Pro Tools. YOU OWE ME deserves T-shirt immortality.
[7]
Crystal Leww: This is an uninspired diss track aimed at nameless and generic “bitches” set over a fairly generic and trendy beat. I like Angel Haze a lot; she shows off her technical prowess at rapping (and brags about it because obviously) as well as a serviceable hook singer, but this lacks the urgency, creativity, and tension of her best work. “The situation is below me,” indeed.
[4]
Brad Shoup: A gospel of devastation, overlaying some Movie Soundtrack Masters genero-dread. The devastation is more insisted upon than described… I mean, “No Bueno”? That’s like Cattle Decapitation naming a track “Cookout Dust-Up.” The jokes aren’t here, and neither is any kind of evil glee. The definition of a rote tideover.
[3]
Will Adams: The designation of making someone suicidal as a triumph in the first verse made me a bit queasy. At least the pain’s alleviated by Angel Haze’s unconvincing performance: the decent beat does most of the work while Angel fires blank after blank.
[5]