Meccha leccha hi, meccha hiney hiney ho…
[Video][Website]
[6.11]
Jonathan Bradley: Yep, this is four-and-a-half minutes of Drake shouting “muh’fuckers never loved us” and “worst behavior.” (Except for the part where he raps Ma$e’s lines from “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.”) And it’s great! (Except for the Ma$e part; Drake should never remind people that ’90s rap had its own, better version of Aubrey Graham.) Aside from the cyborg stutter of DJ Dahi’s whirring, glitchy beat, the key is Drake’s mindset: no longer passive-aggressive or self-pitying, he’s etiolated himself into an irredeemable asshole. A resentful Drake with a hate-hardened heart is far more interesting than one begging to be loved. Plus “Bar mitzvah money like my last name Mordecai/Fuck you bitch; I’m more than high” is probably the best Jewish rapper boast in the history of hip-hop.
[8]
Alfred Soto: “Mo’ fucker never lahv us,” he yells, experimenting with stresses and elisions over a cacophony of distorted vocal samples. Makes sense — a dude with this lame a voice needs options. A figure with a more varied voice might have made these confessions fascinating, although I’ll give him credit for the excellent bad taste of the bar mitzvah verse. Either way, admissions of worst behavior aren’t exonerating evidence.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: Christ, when he boasts he sounds like Ax from the Animorphs. I’ve written about 1,000 words too many and gotten more grief than I ever wanted about not liking Drake, and four minutes of Drake also haranguing everyone who doesn’t like Drake has not changed my mind.
[3]
Patrick St. Michel: I don’t think I’m ever going to be on-board with Drake when he acts tough, like on this song (though saying he feels like he could beat Serena in a tennis match if she only used her left hand is a good line). That beat, though, is a great skittery thing, and helps sell Drake’s puffed-out chest.
[5]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: If you’re going to be an asshole, be the biggest and grandest one you can: put on Ma$e’s shiny suit and fill it out! Demand capital like a deranged Osirus! Summon lackeys and have them handle your telecommunications! Have your beat rupture and glitch wildly under you, your sonic cup spilleth over! He tramples and hollers and cackles, Minilla gloriously becoming Godzilla. Then his conscience strikes: “I just asked for some blessings at my grandmother’s grave”, “enough to make you throw up, it’s gross”, “my mom’ll probably hear that and be mortified.” He continues to stomp away, but worries continue to nag even as he grows older. Such puerility is both within and without.
[9]
Anthony Easton: I still cannot believe Drake as a badass. Hearing him say the word “motherfucker” is like a teenager trying on mild sins as a way of transgression; like the Rosedale kid who keeps pretending he came from the streets. This is especially true in the age of Ford, where Toronto shows what true bad behavior looks like. Most of the points, then, come from how much I miss the city, and how few details end up in public consciousness.
[6]
Crystal Leww: “WORST” is 2013’s YOLO, except less ubiquitous, more for rap nerds on the Internet. Like YOLO, Drake’s message will surely get lost and warped into something entirely different. The song has some real moments of tenderness scattered throughout the dick waving and crotch grabbing with references to his grandmother and growing into something unrecognizable to his mother, suggesting that it’s all a bit of a farce, that it’s a hard outer shell protecting the sensitive boy inside. Still, it doesn’t matter. It’ll be an anthem celebrating the “Fuck the haters” attitude widespread throughout rap music, or it’ll be celebrated as such anyway.
[9]
Brad Shoup: Looks like the behavior — no “u”; bad form — in question could be improper tennis etiquette, bragging about his mitzvah haul, or not returning Ma$e’s DMs. He’s still feast or famine on his hooks; this misstep is compounded by his grown-man yap. Only the bass seems cowed. It’ll still sell pop numbers, but it’s not the real thing.
[3]
Andy Hutchins: Drake borrows drill-era Chicago inflections and a (the, if we’re being honest) Ma$e flow, because 2013, and also maybe drops the double entendre of the year — “This ain’t the son you raised who used to take the Acura at 5 a.m. / Then go and shoot Degrassi up on Morningside / For all the stuntin’, I’ll forever be immortalized” — because Rick shooting Jimmy was certainly a stunt and has certainly been forever immortalized. Remember? Motherfuckers never loved Drake. “Worst Behavior” is too long, but Drake knows that, too, and you will remember as much.
[6]