It’s what keeps you all coming back every day, right?
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Julian Axelrod: Kendrick ascended to rap royalty long ago, but my favorite moments come when he allows himself to be a normal person. In his quieter moments he can convey weariness, isolation and insecurity better than most rappers. So I like how “LOYALTY.” feels refreshingly low-key for such a high-profile collaboration, like Kendrick and Rihanna are just two preteens flirting over the phone. Each boast is adorned with a half-smirk, and even the ad-libs are affirmations of admiration. And though our players might have never met before recording this track, they evoke the comfort and ease of a decade-long relationship. Kendrick’s tests of loyalty come from a place of weakness. “I done been down so long, lost hope”: Now that you’ve seen me at my worst, will you still love me? But as Kendrick shows, that openness is its own kind of strength.
[8]
Ryo Miyauchi: This sounds like a much needed vacation for the two, who both flex their resumes under different monikers like they’re trying to take the edge off from their day jobs. That said, the too-casual nature behind this collaboration is only excused because of who they actually are to the public. Kung Fu Kenny and Bad Girl RiRi adds no matter to this big question of loyalty; it’s Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna who brings the actual weight to the rather loose song.
[6]
Nortey Dowuona: Kung Fu Kenny has been the one iteration of Kendrick so far I haven’t been able to fully get with, and this, feels like a tipping point towards something that doesn’t bode well for Kendrick down the road. But the raps are solid enough, and Rihanna is perfect on this. (Plus, the video is bananas. STREET SHARKS WAS A GOOD SHOW.)
[7]
Austin Brown: The song moves in with a chunky sluggishness that usually deters me, but I can’t deny that every time Rihanna does her “loyalty, loyalty, loyalty” vocal run, I jolt up. And after a few listens and a more attentive look at the lyrics, a song reveals itself with an easily missable sensitivity towards the slippery meaning of the word. With Kendrick Lamar having long since rocketed into the stratosphere of rap stardom and Rihanna suddenly pivoting towards auteurship, it’s a real question for the both of them. Tell me who you’re loyal to, indeed.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Kendrick Lamar is never duller than when he affects a cynicism about women that is the most perfunctory consequence of Telling It Like It Is. Rihanna contributes a scratch vocal.
[4]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: In which Kendrick’s signature “Halle Berry or Hallelujah” moralism gets flipped on its head. Where submission to pleasure in the now becomes an investment for a sustained relationship. As the “24K Magic” sample fills the empty space of “LOYALTY.” with cloudy smoke, Kendrick and Rihanna banter back and forth with effortless cool. They put on names (“Kung Fu Kenny,” “Bad Girl RiRi”), trade cheeky remarks (“I’m a savage, I’m a asshole, I’m a king”; “It’s so hard to be humble”), and interpolate songs of old (“It’s a secret society, all we ask is trust”; “Shimmy ya, shimmy ya, shimmy ya rock”). The (sub)text is serious though, and it channels lazy summer afternoons spent doing nothing in particular, where bonds between people are strengthened in an unspoken-but-understood manner. Rihanna sounds particularly comfortable as she avoids the pitfalls of familiar trap flows, something that plagued some of her previous songs.” Kendrick? Well, he’s got my loyalty.
[7]
Hannah Jocelyn: Clearly, if he’s gotta make a video, he’s gonna make it look sexy – each video that he’s put out has been increasingly cinematic, and this one tops them all. Sharks charging through the ground, Kendrick and Rihanna doing a trust fall on a skyscraper, and a car crash that ties directly to the DNA video. It makes the song itself sound bigger than it does on its own – flipping the shrill talkbox from 24K Magic is inspired, but the video makes it into something more dramatic. The song itself is the pop side of Kendrick without question, down to the similar structure of the verses, and, along with “Love”, K.Dot at his most accessible. Which is not a bad thing at all! DAMN. proved his ability to sonically compete with the rest of mainstream rap if he wanted to, but it’ll be interesting to see if he retreats into himself again or continues on this pop trajectory. Or he does an artfully directed action-comedy co-starring Vince Staples, which is the best-case scenario.
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