And now our ninth, tenth, and eleventh performers of the day…
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[4.67]
Iain Mew: Zendaya especially does a great job of the excitement of hearing a song you want to, but the weird stubby bass undermines any jam feel. It’s like seeing a favourite come up on the radio display and then discovering it’s an underwhelming remix.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: Most pop-rnbass sounds impossibly crisp — not “My Jam,” which is muddy, muddy, muddy from bass to the dragged scrape of a snare. Jeremih sounds muted and bored, Bobby barely registers; only Zendaya sounds like she’s listening to a bright exciting jam, but in this context she just comes off Disneyfied.
[2]
Micha Cavaseno: Funny story: when I first interviewed cloud-rap pioneer Clams Casino years ago he forewarned me of Bobby Brackins’ future success. I saw a weird dread-locked goblin with a voice that sounded so muggy and alien that Wayne would’ve been bugged out by it, so I wrote him off. But that was before the post-hyphy diaspora would reconvene in the ratchet domain to the glories they deserved. “My Jam” is perfectly serviceable r&bass pop with a charmingly heavy-handed snare. It features Jeremih popping by for a winking cameo while Zendaya slowly transitions into her own weird realm, where safe r&bass with so little desire to embrace the risqué is possible. It reminds me of Disney alum Keke Palmer’s unsuccessful attempt at mining post-hyphy’s LA branch, the “Jerk” phenomenon. And it’s also a curious testimony to this generation of West Coast rap’s determination to stay in the radio waves.
[6]
Will Adams: This is your jam coming in? You deserve better from your jams, Zendaya. Better mixing, at the very least.
[4]
Crystal Leww: Zendaya was an early adopter of the rnbass sound, with “My Baby,” penned by Mr. Bobby “Made Another Hit for the Radio Station” Brackins, closing out her debut album that came out in September 2013. No one should be surprised; this is a sound that always sounded just at home with the youth. Here we are, a year and a half later, and honestly no global woman popstar has tried to take this sound to a larger scale. (I am still holding out hope for Rihanna though “FourFiveSeconds” was pretty great.) In the meantime, we’re still getting these one-offs from up and comers like Tinashe, Pia Mia, and Zendaya. Sure, this is a Brackins track, and Jeremih’s on it, but there’s no doubt that it belongs to Zendaya who sings this chorus with a dreamily closed eyes, a bit of a bounce in her voice, and a satisfied smile on her face.
[7]
Brad Shoup: For real though, don’t give up that day job.
[4]