Can’t quite figure out how to pronounce his name – presumably this is Texas’ revenge on us for Worcestershire…
[Video][Myspace]
[5.36]
Ian Mathers: No-one who actually follows MMA is going to use the line “trunk hit hard like Kimbo Slice,” and, while I’m not up on Southern car decorating trends, much of “Ice Cream Paint Job” feels similarly slapdash.
[4]
Martin Skidmore: The hook, despite being mildly incomprehensible, is distinctly catchy. I’d have liked a bit more muscle in the bleepy production, and something more interesting in the lyric, but I was soon joining in one the chorus.
[7]
Alex Wisgard: Remember that Louis Theroux documentary where he tries to immerse himself in hip hop culture, spitting on the radio about the joys of his Fiat (“You really have to see it!”)? Now imagine Will Smith was idly cruising through various radio stations, chanced upon Theroux’s freestyle and decided to use it as the basis for the b-side to his comeback single. Dorrough’s done a pretty good job of recreating that scenario on this hookless, edgeless playground chant of a song; the man’s enthusiasm for his car can’t be faulted, but it does start to wear somewhat thin over four minutes. Bonus point for the cute Rick Ross diss.
[5]
Chuck Eddy: Dorrough’s from Dallas, I live in Austin, and a couple months ago this came on the radio every time I got in my car. Though my car, unfortunately, is not clean on the outside, cream on the inside. Nor are its rims big. But it do ride good. Anyway, what’s been clear from first hearing is that, more than almost anybody else on r&b/hip-hop stations this year, Dorrough actually sounds like he’s enjoying himself — Rap hits this goofy and good-natured are forever an endangered species. Just wish he said what flavor the ice cream is. I hope Neapolitan.
[8]
Mallory O’Donnell: Dallas hip-hop has an amiable, clubby, almost cheery element that encourages multiple routes out of the regional rap (musical) ghetto, but Dorrough, despite appending “Music” to the end of his name, ain’t having it. This is a criminal waste of a whip-smart beat, but it’s moving violation over misdemeanor and I could just tear up this ticket right here if you drop me a hundo. And, please, gentlemen. It’s pronounced mar-kee.
[3]
Alfred Soto: In Miami these songs are as ubiquitous as tan lines. No reason to underrate them – or overrate them.
[5]
Anthony Miccio: Unusually vivacious and percolating for a 2009 hip-hop track about automotive accessories, I have to wonder if this was yanked from the Cash Money Basement Tapes.
[7]
Michaelangelo Matos: When even I, Mr. Hip-Hop Late Pass, think this song missed its calling by a few years, you have a problem on your hands.
[4]
Hillary Brown: Um, this makes me not even want ice cream anymore. Gross, sticky, unsexy, and not catchy enough to make up for all the above sins.
[2]
Rodney J. Greene: Dorrough’s chunky flow pounds down upon each beat, giving the bassy Generic Southern Rap backing a bit more bounce than it might otherwise posess. His rhymes are simple, but he tweaks the standard set of car-culture imagery just enough to provide points of interest. What puts it over is that he sounds like he’s enjoying the hell out of the whole thing.
[8]
Frank Kogan: At the start, we’ve got beats, genial rapping, a bass chug, and some blips. They roll along all nicely like that. And continue to roll just like that. And continue on like that. And continue on like that. And continue on, rolling along, just like that.
[6]