We’d prefer if Robyn and Röyksopp do it again…
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[4.22]
Alfred Soto: When our friends dismiss pop, they must mean “Do It Again,” whose Pia Mia vocal is supposed to suggest abandon and whose Chris Brown vocal is supposed to suggest longing but whose arrangement and melodies are so perfunctory that it must be the point.
[3]
Thomas Inskeep: I think Pia Mia is gunning to be the ’10s Christina Milian.
[4]
Brad Shoup: Funniest rap since “Dumb Dumb”.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: In the last moments of the 20th century, Michael Jackson became the metaphor of an American Frankenstein: various essays and books discussed his continued history of plastic surgery, dissolution of identity and severe drug-addiction as a man taken apart and put together again with the express intent of making the payloads of profit until his eventual demise. Every time I have to listen to Chris Brown, I see just that and more. Tyga here was clear cheese, Nic-Nac is leaning more into lush EDM territories, Pia Mia’s verses don’t even really make any sense melodically or lyrically, so it’s whatever. But it’s hearing that streak of clearly botched falsetto notes twisted into their correct place, while a young man who is still clearly suffering from heavy drug addiction and noted mental illness is leaping around playing superstar, when what he really needs to do is just stop and heal for once in his life. This is the same young man who continually justifies his toxic misogyny with his trauma and a sea of Hollywood enablers and brainless gits of a media-stunted audience. But in an age where you cannot force a familiar star, this industry would rather kill this kid by parading him, despite the fact that he is clearly physically unable to even sing like he once could, with a voice almost shot to death at my age. I honestly think this kid is a giant scumbag, but hearing him in his state on even a shallow song of fun like “Do It Again” has me feel a fear and unease that inspires not scorn, not even pity, but a genuine sorrow.
[4]
Megan Harrington: Chris Brown is the best part of this song.
[2]
Iain Mew: After Tyga’s superfluous intro, Pia Mia’s plaintive pleas dominate. The scenario is slim on details, but well-balanced, a one-night stand between friends that might turn into something more, and the pulsing synths supply hope with enough edge to match her barely-contained anxiety. As long as it treads the line of uncertainty, it works and I feel for her. That’s why it’s such a bad thing when Chris Brown shows up half way through and makes clear that i) they will do it again ii) he’s going to be a dick about it, ruining the tension without even offering a satisfying ending.
[5]
Andy Hutchins: Tyga’s contributions are as inessential as he is, Pia’s shriller range doesn’t work nearly as well here as she clearly thought it would be when she fell in love with the raspy J Boog original, and Mr. Breezy’s relatively workmanlike effort almost sounds like he’s just cameoing for the check (and as a favor to the manager he shares with Pia), despite that utterly buttery transition out of his excellent falsetto. “Do It Again” would be much better if it were his alone. Still, the attraction is the beat from Pia paramour Nic Nac, who’s stayed on his offramp of the DJ Mustard highway since “Loyal,” and churned out interesting, disparate production (since late 2014, he’s done this and “I Don’t Get Tired” and the buoyant “Ayo”); his surprising deftness at adding depth to obviously bright songs shows in the layered percussion in the verses, and it’s really not his fault his girlfriend decided to try to soar with the synths in the hook.
[6]
Will Adams: That chorus is a total mess: a cluttered and awkward hook, barely any effort to assert itself in the song, and a pinched performance from Pia Mia. The rest is decent enough.
[4]
Jonathan Bogart: Everything sounds like exhaustion and desperation.
[5]