Fresh from the Louvre…
[Video]
[6.36]
Leah Isobel: Bree Runway is charismatic and talented, but the core of her artistic practice is sheer nerve. She names her song after a Beyoncé single; she leans solely on her personality to sell a repetitive hook and just about succeeds; she raps “snatching everybody wig/now they look like thumbs.” “APESHIT” builds and tumbles over itself with the prodigious enthusiasm of a star athlete showing off for the crowd. It’s a self-consciously huge track built for self-consciously huge spaces, like stadiums or festival grounds or gay clubs; it’s thrilling to hear an artist so self-assured.
[8]
Oliver Maier: Plainly inviting Missy comparisons, “APESHIT” is thankfully less a hologram tribute act than a Frankenstein’s monster, folding in enough additional reference points and moving between sections with such impulsive confidence that it establishes its own territory. Of course, tracks like this are only as strong as whoever holds them together, which makes Bree Runway a hot glue gun.
[8]
Scott Mildenhall: It’s a shame that something like this could now be considered a callback, because it sounds as much like the future as it did twenty years ago, at which point it would already have been calling back another twenty years on top. Vibrant, assertive and covering more ground in 150 seconds than some do on a whole album, Bree Runway even pulls off a transatlantic accent without sounding like Cookie Crew. So in control is she that the inclusion of a chuckle on of her repetitions, essentially affecting that she was doing them live, feels more like a shared joke than showing off.
[8]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: As a rapper, Bree Runway exudes confidence, especially in the song’s bridge, which conveys power with a quiet, mysterious charisma. Which is why I hate to say: this song sounds poorly produced. For a song called “APESHIT,” the beat sounds too docile, and, elsewhere, the treatment of her voice for the “ain’t shit, ain’t shit, ain’t shit” hook is so jarring it sounds like a hammer falling down a flight of stairs. This isn’t even her best song where the hook revolves around the word “shit.”
[5]
Alfred Soto: Wow — that is one annoying-ass hook. To do so little with an “It Takes Two” sample and a modest synth hook takes gumption of a sort.
[3]
David Moore: “Ate shit,” “ain’t shit,” “apeshit” — be forcibly humbled, disappoint everyone, go crazy. A trinity for our times.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: In these times — no, not those; these musical times — it’s almost refreshing to hear a song that’s good old-fashioned grating, trying too hard instead of hardly trying. But, you know, refreshing in principle.
[3]
Tobi Tella: The hook beats you over the head and while I appreciate the energy, I was skeptical about its second repetition in less than a minute. The switch is an element that has become more common recently, but is deployed perfectly here: it peels back to more dimensions and makes that chorus sound even harder.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: A king advances over the Pringle-can drums and hooting at hunger in the background, while simple preset synths pop out of the house with shingle guitar.
[7]
Kylo Nocom: Frenetic fun even if she doesn’t always succeed at Missy-inspired pop eclecticism. Bree Runway’s singing goes underused here in favor of a repeated homophone not clever enough to justify the repetition; “Damn Daniel” is a better demonstration of her talents.
[6]
Joshua Lu: Eclectic and electric, “APESHIT” is a whirlwind of panache and hooks. If anything, it moves too quickly, making it feel more like an overture to Bree Runway’s promising career (which already has an excellent follow-up) than an actual song — but what an introduction it is regardless.
[7]