Still a better name change than that time Godspeed You! Black Emperor shifted the placement of their exclamation point…
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[6.08]
Madeleine Lee: Thanks to every middle school dance I ever attended, my primary association with the “Apache” sample is “What’s up, Dallas, what’s up,” so the fact that it’s so front and centre here bewildered me at first. But after several repeats, I’m starting to think that’s the whole point of this song: take something familiar and cheesy, throw some positive power vocals on top of it and speedy, rump-shaking drums underneath, toss in some horns and voilà, instant fun. Of course, some people might not be able to get past “familiar and cheesy.” I hope for their sake those people aren’t my neighbours. What’s up, summer, what’s up?
[9]
Katherine St Asaph: Bright, sunshine-drunk R&B with perk and assertiveness. Which is to say, it’s got absolutely no chance. (The Carly Rae Jepsen Reverse Psychology Move. Shh.)
[7]
Alfred Soto: The backup vocals going “That’s what I want” suggest Aretha’s “Rock Steady,” and the surf guitar and organ lines interject at fraught moments — which is to say, it sounds like “Apache” hijacked by Ameriie. Despite faint wear her voice has lost none of her verve. Now let’s see how the record company fucks this thing up.
[7]
Scott Mildenhall: “Gotta Work” is one of the best n songs since y, and so Ameriie confidently exhorting over an old R&B sample is automatically appealing, but “Apache” isn’t just too easy, it’s not meant for building a whole song around. Maybe that’s the reason the chorus barely exists, and she sounds so apart from the music. It’s the sort of thing that might go on a mixtape, less so as the announcement of your new 33 per cent extra vowel status.
[6]
Crystal Leww: Ameriie shows us why “Apache,” and particularly “Jump On It,” is still a sample full of possibilities. The verses remind me of an aural version of double-dutch, impressively tightly wound and just skipping around to the right places. Ameriie sounds comfortable rather than straining on this style, which makes sense because this is hers. The new kids on the block could use a listen for a lesson on how to really update a style.
[6]
David Sheffieck: The Apache break may have been sampled a billion times, but it somehow continues to pay dividends — especially when done as dynamically as it is here, and when paired with a singer as commanding and straight-up fun as Ameriie is.
[9]
Jonathan Bradley: I’m not gonna act like Ameriie needs a song to sound great, but she sure deserves better than a break.
[5]
Patrick St. Michel: So retro sounding that you can see the pile of dust on the floor brushed off the “Apache” sample. There’s so little contemporary sheen here that this sounds a bit clunky.
[4]
Brad Shoup: That’s what we needed. Like, as a country: someone doing something fun with “Apache.” Sometimes the vocals pipe in, sometimes they’re piped in; either way, they’re phenomenal and deserve a fresher showcase.
[5]
Anthony Easton: The song pushes, moves faster, and is more aggressive than Ameriie’s vocals, and she sounds both breathless and unable to catch up to the production. If this is deliberate, it is interesting. If this is accidental, it is a poor choice. How she sings “no running” while all the song is running suggests the former.
[3]
Will Adams: The chorus is a bulls-eye, but the verses slog along so lethargically that I can only grit my teeth in anticipation of this doomed comeback.
[6]
Megan Harrington: I like the thrust, but there’s something not quite sticky enough about “What I Want”‘s refrain for it to be placed so aggressively at the song’s center. That she shares such a strong aesthetic overlap with Kelis’s funky Food is, I’m sure, coincidence, but there’s not enough of Ameriie here to really distinguish between the two. Adding an extra “i” to her name really underscores this identity crisis.
[6]