It’s just a low score; no need to be so dramatic…
[Video]
[3.57]
Nortey Dowuona: Ellie Goulding is feeling herself and making dull Apple commercial music. So is Juice WArLoeD. This is good for them. Better save that Apple money and get a nuke bunker while u still can.
[4]
Joshua Lu: If the somber vibe and whimpering lyricism of “Hate Me” aren’t enough to depress you (which, given their hackneyed nature, is probably the case), then consider about how quickly Ellie Goulding went from crafting promising electropop to run-of-the-mill trend-chasing pop-hip-hop abominations. And if that’s still not enough to bring your mood down, then check the song’s metrics and realize this is gearing up to be her biggest single from this year.
[3]
Elisabeth Sanders: Sounds like someone took a playground rhyme and set it to a SoundCloud track.
[5]
Alfred Soto: So much of pop has relied on “tell me lies” as wish, declaration, and pressure point, but Ellie Goulding and Juice WRLD’s performances suggest corpses awaiting a dressing. The generic production helps not an inch.
[3]
Michael Hong: “Hate Me” finds Ellie Goulding crossing from her earlier folk-tinged pop to the ever present hip-hop influenced pop, and while Goulding’s been known to chase trends, this feels like her first sell-out. While the darker synths could have been interesting, as they aren’t something she’s tested before, the chorus is too blank, repetitive, and uninspired for the entire thing to really go anywhere with it.
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: Nothing that reminds me this much of Death Team can be good.
[4]
Will Adams: You ever re-listen to Lights lately and mourn what could have been?
[3]