To this editor’s knowledge, the first we’ve covered both of them on the same track. And, well…
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[4.57]
Thomas Inskeep: “We know you da baddest, baby, fuck them hoes,” Future croons, in front of a bassline so rubbery I think it may actually be an elastic band. Detail and Go Grizzly, as producers, provide a marvelous track, and Future blends into it almost like another instrument. And Minaj bangs out her best-sounding contribution of ’17. When Nicki’s on, she’s on, and when Future’s at his peak, he’s pretty damn great.
[8]
Crystal Leww: I wrote the One Week One Band on Nicki Minaj, so I’ve been interested in all the different sides Nicki Minaj has. But the thing about rap Nicki and pop Nicki and pop-rap Nicki were that they all had personalities. Since her last album Nicki Minaj has been mostly lacking in that department, more than happy to cash in checks to do listless guest features. “You Da Baddest” makes it worse by burying Future in the mix so low he sounds like a murmuring mosquito. This is so ill-conceived for a song about bad bitches that I can’t even imagine someone as bland as one of those Hadids doing their walk-up music to this, much less someone who held the title of Greatest Rapper Alive just so recently.
[3]
Josh Love: Nicki is almost always a welcome addition as a featured artist, but her bright, kinetic personality is an awkward fit with Future’s hazy swagger (his recent pairing with Rihanna, “Selfish,” makes far more conceptual sense). The involved parties seem aware of this incongruity, and Nicki’s role is constrained accordingly — a far more generic performer could have reasonably approximated her contribution here.
[5]
Stephen Eisermann: This is the song equivalent of a guy and a girl playing the compliment game, where the girl comments on his personality, drive, and strength and the guy responds with a line about her “trampoline titties.” Unfortunately for both Future and Nicki, the song is just as awkward as the situation is.
[3]
Ryo Miyauchi: Future singing a sweet little la-la-la in the intro got me missing the days when he genuinely glowed from all of the warm emotions he sang and rapped about. His short ad-lib in “You Da Baddest” hints that he still might have it in him to paint all over the canvas with one sticky melody he’d come up with on the spot. But instead, he lays low in the same, safe trap-rap lane he paved since DS2.
[5]
Ian Mathers: Look, I know faster does not necessarily equal better or smarter, but let’s be honest: it takes Nicki less than 30 seconds to make Future’s whole thing here feel really lazy in a less than appealing way (and I’m no less susceptible to the charms of “Mask Off” than anyone, don’t get me wrong). By the end he sounds like he can’t keep up with the production, and it’s not even that high BPM.
[5]
Alfred Soto: A title chosen because “You Da Averagest” doesn’t roll off the tongue.
[3]