Video features horse racing, DJ Khaled…
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[5.11]
Martin Skidmore: Lush music (produced by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League), rather too smooth and laid back to suit Rick I think – our editor points out that it sounds kind of like PM Dawn, and that isn’t really the right backing for a tough gangsta, and John Legend’s slick blandness doesn’t help either. It sounds the kind of thing that could have been excellent with the right rapper, but it just highlights Rick’s ordinariness.
[5]
John M. Cunningham: The key line is “I can show you better than I can tell you,” because while Rick Ross as a rapper is not particularly charming or nimble, the opulent instrumentation and the classy John Legend’s creamy voice fit the subject perfectly. Another highball, please.
[7]
Martin Kavka: “When I decorate a home, marble flooring like the Nile.” I’m shocked to discover that Rick Ross does his own interior design. Perhaps, once this album flops – this ode to materialism is wildly out of place in the current recession – he should replace Ty Pennington as host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition?
[4]
Dave Moore: Another surprisingly enjoyable track from Rick Ross, who glides through a Biggie-esque smooth jam with slick John Legend chorus. But his mind’s on his money to a fault (he’d rather do accounting than take pleasure in the company of his veritable ocean of women). He’d be better off as a CNBC analyst than a rapper: “I’m a CEO which means I profit offa me.” Just don’t tell your shareholders, or the government.
[6]
Jordan Sargent: Officer Ross obviously seems himself as a post-Biggie corner hustler cum kingpin superstar, and “Magnificent”, the lead single off of his positively buzzed about third album, flaunts a luxurious instrumental that wouldn’t sound out of place on Life After Death. But obviously Ross can’t even hold Biggie’s cigar box (even though the former will have much more of a lasting [non-cop fiasco] legacy than some think), and so “Magnificent” doesn’t do much to hold attention, especially considering that “Mafia Music”, the song that leaked before it, is one of the better rap songs of the year. And even on the chorus, which could be a small oasis, John Legend is swallowed by the monstrous beat – which is probably best for all involved, come to think of it.
[5]
Jonathan Bradley: He doesn’t actually expect us to take him seriously, does he? Apart from a “It’s the boss!” intro, this has the pungent whiff of a grab for respectability. It’s not just the delicate, almost tasteful, R&B instrumental from The Justice League. There’s also a bland hook from John Legend who, this time round, deserves all the charges of dullness with which he’s usually unfairly saddled. I’d even swear Rick Ross was trying a bit harder with his lyrics, though I can offer little in the way of direct evidence for that. Amazingly, Ross has suggested he can do this kind of grown man shit well, with another Deeper Than Rap leak, the surprisingly well-executed “Cigar Music (I Do It).” But if he truly is trying to class up his career, he’ll need to do better than “Magnificent.” My advice would have been to go in the other direction: call up Andy Samberg and see if it were possible to out-stupid “I’m On a Boat.”
[4]
Additional Scores
Hillary Brown: [3]
Alex Macpherson: [7]
Ian Mathers: [5]