Who got rostered on the graveyard shift at Khaled’s studio this week? These guys.
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[4.14]
Brad Shoup: In terms of Trey Songz/Jeremih collabs, it’s better than the “I Luv This Shit” re-work and not as poignant as this dude’s mashup. They don’t have much intersection here: Trey gets the afterglow, Jeremih gets to burrow into the title. When Future shows up it’s a nice diversion: his verse isn’t as melodically spangled as “March Madness,” but the first line of that one, in this context, just soars. Lee on the Beats drops all kinds of drums like he’s setting up an art installation; the synth flashes gently against the crooning. Future’s inclusion precludes this from hitting slow jam radio for the time being, but when it catches up “she know the shit that I told her was some of the realest shit ever been told” is going to be a killer closer.
[7]
Crystal Leww: I think “You Mine” is meant to be a sequel of sorts to the wildly successful and still wonderful “Hold You Down,” but it languishes for too long and struggles to find something to anchor itself on. Jeremih’s hook is repetitive without being hooky. Trey Songz tries his best to be Omarion on his best Care Package vibes but it feels unfocused. The Future verse in particular is awful; I have no idea what flow he’s on, but I don’t hear his beat anywhere. None of this is romantic; none of it is particularly even trying to be, I don’t think.
[3]
Micha Cavaseno: The last time we reviewed Khaled, we had this formula in use, except we’ve now replaced gross-ass Breezy with Trey “YEEEUP” Songz so obviously, we’ve upgraded. Songz is all self-referential and ornate drippyness and dumb-ass punchlines, but he’s also a bit phoned in from the endeavor, perhaps feeling a little cramped by the burst-rate of Jeremih’s desperate hook. Meanwhile Nayvadius is out of balladeer mode this year, and delivering a better verse than on most of his unnecessarily-lauded Dirty Sprite 2 for the first few bars but quickly phases out. All the while, the lavish, Avalon-era Roxy style glimmer helmed by Khaled & Lee on the Beats makes this perfectly drift and cruise overhead above the listener.
[6]
Alfred Soto: “Can’t do nuthin’ for ya,” Trey mumbles before the mirror. Of course Future runs away with the track — did he have a choice?
[2]
Thomas Inskeep: I cannot tell a lie: use a Linn drum on your song (the ultimate example will always be Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones”) and you’re pretty much guaranteed at least a 5 from me; it’s one of my favorite sounds in all of recorded music. Unfortunately, this track doesn’t have a lot else to recommend it apart from some solid vocals from Jeremih and Trey Songz, in service of a lyric that initially sounds romantic but turns pretty smarmy pretty quickly.
[5]
Jonathan Bogart: Idly wondering why Trey’s and Jeremih’s schedules wouldn’t permit them to overlap on the video shoot was more interesting than anything happening in the song.
[3]
Edward Okulicz: “Girl you make a mess/How you got me makin’ sticky faces.” I know Trey Songz invented sex, but now he’s just ruined cunnilingus for everyone and that is not cool.
[3]