The correct response to pole dancing on public transport is:
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[4.57]
Edward Okulicz: “She Can Ride” is accomplished, which makes it annoying that its least accomplished bit (you know, the annoying bit that goes “oh oh oh oh”) is the one that feels like it’s being pushed as the hook. Dru’s flow and voice are both decent enough to carry a not-very-challenging bit of fluff, and if that’s what you want, this is twice as good as Jason DeRulo’s batting average. Small praise, but still praise.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Ignore that awful Auto-Tuned “oh oh OH oh” bit and you’ve got a nice example of milky R&B baritone, like a pre-shrunk Gary Jenkins. It doesn’t sway from pole to pole, though, so I don’t have much use for it.
[4]
Jonathan Bogart: The synths are creamy, Dru’s voice is creamier, and the subject of the song is too creamy for any but the most hardened arteries to stomach.
[6]
Iain Mew: I like the enthusiasm and speed with which Dru throws in metaphors (there’s the riding thread, and a separate gun thread intertwined) and additional bits of melody in his attempts to get beyond standard issue electro&B. They don’t quite all work, but the good outweighs the bad and Dru’s impressive voice holds it together.
[6]
Anthony Easton: Between this and Drake, as a citizen of Toronto, I feel like we keep having to apologise for our hip-hop. Go listen to Cadence Weapon, just to prove that we can do hip hop well.
[3]
Alfred Soto: I like my vehicular metaphors attached to arrangements that sound like cars and such. Dru’s screams are closer to foghorns than BMW screeches though.
[3]
Alex Ostroff: Normally crawling synths and skittering snare runs and Terius-style interjections of ‘AY!’ are sufficient to make me favourably disposed to dude-fronted R&B – at least in 2012. But, of all the places to drop the ball, the chorus is probably not the best option. The repeated cries of “that girl, she can ride” are underwritten musically and lyrically, and shift the scales from ‘pleasant enough’ to ‘actively mediocre’.
[4]