Ugh I sent him an e-mail but his out of office is on…
[Video]
[7.00]
Alfred Soto: Another track about being naked and famous, about reacting to fans recognizing you on the street. These three are in a position to know. Stormzy’s hiccuping, terse vocalizing brings the pain over the jungle-inflected beat.
[7]
Mo Kim: What a terrifically elastic beat, drawling out and in at just the right times and giving the rap trio’s punchlines just that extra bit of snap. Stormzy lives up to his name, kicking up a minor furor with relative restraint; throughout, there’s a flippant sense of ease and confidence that electrifies “Ask Flipz” with the energy of a good improvisation.
[8]
Nortey Dowuona: Sharp, tightly wound drums, cascading synths and bouncy drums float the goofy-meet-tough raps from Krept and Konan and the powerful, delicate raps from Stormzy.
[7]
Ryo Miyauchi: The simple, paranoid loop offers a rather surprising amount of range. Konan postures a well-kept cool as he lays low and minimal with his verse. Krept goes opposite to rap frantic as if to suck the oxygen out of the room. Stormzy ends up stealing the show going from leader of the pack to furious rookie at the drop of a hat.
[6]
Will Adams: It’s no wonder Stormzy was granted so much airtime — he handles all three hooks and gets his own verse — since he stays so on top of the brooding production (the best sound in this is the bass growl on the second beat). Krept & Konan are no slouches themselves; “Ask Flipz” is solid club gloom from start to finish that balances its fun with a sense of danger.
[7]
Ian Mathers: Both the production and all three rappers have pleasingly halting, staccato approaches at times here, and the most satisfying thing about “Ask Flipz” is that those different approaches weave in and out of each other, sometimes temporarily synchronizing and sometimes playing off of each other as counterpoint. Intermittant propulsion can work just as well as the steady kind, it turns out.
[7]