And if you’ll just take a look to your left, I think you’ll see we’ve finally got our top 10 in full effect. Now that’s what I call AWESOME!!!!…

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[7.00]

Al Shipley: Lloyd is such a tender, sincere young man that his actual surname is Polite fer chrissakes. And that means that even his uptempo club records have a certain gushy, emotional quality that so few of his contemporaries can muster even on their ballads. It’s pretty puzzling, however, that nearly 5 years after his big chance at solo stardom came and went with “Throw Some D’s,” that Polow is finally taking another feature credit on a big single, but under a goofy alias and just shouting a bunch of ad libs.
[7]

Zach Lyon: I’m having trouble figuring this out. You have Lloyd and Polow da Don, together, for a second time, and they sound so gloriously mismatched here that the first collaboration seems like a surprise. Everything clashes: Lloyd’s voice, the lyrics, the beat, the BEAT. And it works? Lloyd’s voice sounds weird here, sticks out in a way that it didn’t in “Lay it Down,” even though he was actually doing difficult things with it there. He just has this weird mid-level croon thing going on. And the lyrics are pretty awful. And the little MIDI trumpet samba line just sucks. But the BEAT. It just ties this all together into one magical glitter unicorn of juxtaposition, and those flaws sound essential and awesome (and intentional) because of it.
[8]

Ian Mathers: I will always believe that Lloyd’s “Southside” is a classic (as I wrote for the original Jukebox’s farewell tour), which both hurts and harms any other Lloyd singles I hear. Sure, I’m favourably inclined towards the guy, but everything else (so far) disappoints compared to “Southside”. “Cupid” doesn’t measure up either, but with those peppy little horns parping away during the lightweight bliss of the chorus, it comes surprisingly close. I have a history of initially underrating how much I like Lloyd’s work, so I reserve the right to regret calling this a trifle in a couple of months. But even if I don’t, it’s an awfully sweet trifle. And hey, he’s looking a bit like Wallace Fennel these days, which doesn’t hurt.
[8]

Doug Robertson: Take that mask off Peter Andre. You’re fooling no-one.
[4]

Martin Skidmore: I can’t entirely get on with his singing style – he always sounds to me about half his 25 years – but this has a nicely pulsing beat and a cute song, its sweetness suiting his Michael Jackson style well. There is also some grinding musical energy in places, and Awesome Jones!!! contributes some useful shouting and Barry Whitesque voiceover, so this does a pretty good job of converting me.
[8]

Asher Steinberg: Lloyd’s always been a bit of a throwback to the 80s bubblegum R&B of New Edition et al., and I like him that way. So while this song is pretty and summery enough, especially on the verses, it’s a little disappointing to hear him doing something so traditional, especially those almost gospel-ish bits on the hook.
[6]

Chuck Eddy: Takes guts for a soul crooner to revive an old Sam Cooke title (which maybe he’s too young to know about — he does remember “Cupid Shuffle” though, right?), but Lloyd’s sure got one pretty falsetto — at this point, it might even give El DeBarge a run for the money. Thing is (at least in his ’80s prime), El would’ve been brave enough to let the beauty stand on its own, without all the busy extraneous hooting and hollering, which I assume is the doing of this Awesome!!!! fellow. In other words, I tend to think the man of many exclamation points subtracts more than he adds.
[8]

Alfred Soto: Buoyant vocal — not by accident does Lloyd evoke Eldra DeBarge. But DeBarge also boasted El DeBarge’s songwriting and production.
[7]