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Crystal Leww: There’s the crossover rap producer, but very rarely do we see pop producers suddenly producing songs for urban radio. Potentially motivated by how absolutely massive “Dark Horse” was, Dr. Luke has spent part of 2014 producing songs for rap radio. There was Usher’s August Alsina-imitating stripper anthem “I Don’t Mind” (a wonky pitched version can still be found on the internet because duh), there was that Nicki Minaj track that straddled that line between pop and rap, and of course, there’s “Low”, which is a straight up rap track, from that wonderfully grounded trap beat to chopped and screwed vocals to the star-studded cast that all turn in really compelling work full of quotables. As a bit of personal bias, “Low” combines two of my favorite things in the world: 90s basketball (which all three verses contain references to!) and rap music. This is how you do an all-star rap anthem correctly.
[8]
Andy Hutchins: Juicy’s not trying (what else is new?), though he has the courtesy to deliver the most laughable bars off the top. Thugger’s regrettably barely here because someone decided Juicy needed half of the hook. But Imperial Nicki reigns on — she rhymed a bar that is naught but a blatant plug for her moscato with the bracing “I keep a pillow wit’ me just because I’m tired ‘a niggas,” and this should be praised — and Bibby’s flow is an avalanche spilling downhill on the propulsive Dr. Luke beat. And, hey: Dr. Luke did the beat! He can gentrify even drill! Bless his opportunistic ass.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Imagine Minaj’s own “Chiraq” recast as a mixtape special, with Young Thug’s free associating a dumb-great hook with the skill that’s made him 2014’s most essential supporting player and Juicy J and Minaj reenacting the scenario in “Leather and Lace” as a comedy (J loves what her omnisexuality has done for their sex). Bibby, take notes.
[7]
Micha Cavaseno: Juicy hijacks Nicki’s “Chiraq” and turns it prog, swapping out Lil’ Herb with his friend/rival Lil’ Bibby, and bolsters it with Young Thug’s parrot shrieks and warbles. Juicy maintains his streak of striving to proficiency, Nicki displays a subdued yet still acceptable guest verse, but it’s truly Bibby, who’s voice commands the respect that his public Snagglepuss-type antics erode, who works the track to the bone. All in all, nothing essential, but the same way the beat feels like a pulse’s electronic ring bouncing from the inside of a chrome muffler, it’s good to see signs of life in all these combatants.
[6]
David Sheffieck: Juicy J is way off here, delivering possibly the least effective pre-hook of the year, and the production’s hollow. But Nicki’s continuing a killer hot streak and Lil Bibby comes close to matching her. They’re enough to keep things interesting, but ultimately they just seem better than this beat deserves.
[7]
Scott Mildenhall: When a build refuses to lead to a drop, is it still a build? “Low”‘s promises an electrical storm; Juicy J circling then releasing a fervent Young Thug, only for someone else (Nicki adeptly, Lil Bibby unnecessarily) to start over the top of what follows. Cut out Bibby’s verse for brevity and there’ll also be an extra chance to hear it unadorned.
[6]
Luisa Lopez: In a song where Nicki Minaj is once again the delightful pin poked through a male-dominated space, it’s surprising that Young Thug’s chorus is the part that, if not the wickedest or the worst, is at least the most fun. He gives it a mania that the song never really rises to otherwise, though it deserves to.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: While I find it genuinely shocking that a producer who’s often as boilerplate as Dr. Luke had a hand in this track, this absolutely works. Juicy J is Juicy J: never been the world’s best rapper, but has an awesome flow. But the real spark to this single, as it often is when she guests, is Minaj, who I can’t stand when she makes pop records but LOVE as a rapper. When she starts rapping double-time, I damned near squeal. She’s. So. Good. And then Lil Bibby’s crazy-Barry-White voice is so, whaddaya know, low. “Low” is most definitely greater than the sum of its parts, and its parts are damned great.
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Brad Shoup: Young Thug absolutely wrecks the energy level: not an achievement for the yearbook but it’s funny. The lack of momentum from verse to hook to verse is pretty damning, but if you take out Thugger, the line goes from chill to frantic. Still, there’s a lack of bass and there’s the whole bizarre ’98 Lakers shoutout, so this whole thing’s falling apart on me.
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Edward Okulicz: Fuck me dead, Nicki Minaj just said “ice all around me like a peng-WEEEEEEN.” All arguments against this are invalid.
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Megan Harrington: Nicki’s heading into October with a batting average north of .500; Myx Moscato for life!
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