Something something Aesop Rock…
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[6.17]
Brad Shoup: HOLY SHIT THIS PRODUCTION
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: A$AP Rocky has been getting a lot of mileage out of screwed vocals thus far in his young career, from using the technique on viral breakout “Purple Swag” to peppering nearly every song on last year’s LiveLoveA$AP with that slowed-down sound. Surprisingly, he’s usually been able to make of these instances not sound like a mere retread, Rocky making syrup-doused rapping sound uneasy on one track and boastful on the next. On “Brand New Guy,” the screwed voice is pure intimidation, a metallic growl that matches up well with the post-apocalyptic drama of the production. Rocky and Schoolboy Q do some passable mean mugging, but the star here is that screwed growl.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Still besotted with gargoyle voices, A$AP gets his decent verses on the record ASAP, which still leaves three minutes of schoolboy Schoolboy rapping, a steady drip-drip of average lines.
[4]
Colin Small: How can this song already sound so dated to me? For a short period in 2011, Lil B had a massive influence on up and coming rappers. The “woop!” ad libs, the ethereal production, the slow march of Rocky’s flow, its all Lil B. Now that B has fallen hard out of the limelight, the whole sound rings strange: a little too slow and a little too mannered. While A$AP Rocky isn’t necessarily the best rapper, he tends to know where he needs to be in relationship to a beat. Schoolboy Q, on the other hand, is too technically proficient for his own good. Like many of its peers from last fall, this track is on the cusp of being great, but its really just a collection of interesting elements that never quite lock together.
[5]
Will Adams: The languid production intrigues for the first minute or so; the hi-hats that tick in triple meter add some depth to the mix. But nearly five minutes of it is hard to handle, and eventually you feel like you’re wading through mud with cinderblocks chained to your feet. The back-and-forth between A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q in the final 30 seconds is cool, but not worth sifting through the tired braggadocio to get there.
[4]
Jonathan Bradley: Brash and bullish; “meet the brand new guys” is right. Rocky’s Weezy interpolations and Q’s sound-effects are transfixing enough, but these guys earn their upstart rep in collaboration. The last verse features the two rappers trading cocky snarls and grim jokes; “Vodka shots; he Smirnoff” is my particular favorite.
[9]