Sunday is TV day at the Jukebox, apparently…
[Video][Website]
[6.71]
Brad Shoup: I’m on board with “church” becoming an ad-lib. It’s not quite one here, but Meek’s having fun regardless. Everything’s so sacrelicious, I don’t even begrudge him highlighting the DOA joke. Drake’s on that GCB congregational prayer shit, only bitchier. Would’ve loved to hear Jeremih go full gospel; he seems like a late-sleeper.
[8]
Jamieson Cox: The beat is warm and glowing, like the weird light at the centre of The Island on LOST. (How’s that for a semi-dated cultural reference?) Meek Mill never fails to deliver a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm, but he’s outshone here by Drake, who seems to turn everything he raps into gold in 2012. He’s got the Midas tongue, and he elevates what would otherwise be pleasant barbecue music for a sunny Sunday into — well, into an 8.
[8]
Iain Mew: Meek is really engaging, flexing his voice and mood to fit the rolling piano that ducks in and out of focus, and the organ too zippy to be churchworthy. He guides us along from punchline to punchline with the minimum of fuss and still gives the impression he’s having a great time. Bold final line about getting what he prays for aside, Drake is unremarkable to the point that I keep mentally filtering him out completely. Which is fine.
[7]
Jonathan Bradley: The gospel nostalgia of the instrumental fits poorly with the synthetic snare taps of the 808; Meek Mill attacks the beat so energetically that he deserves a backing that can decide whether it wants to be soulful or mechanistic. And Meek Mill does bring it here: he’s raucous and unrestrained, and sounds even better for standing out awkwardly from his Sunday best surroundings. Hell, even Drake sounds fresh on this one, benefiting from a footnote length verse and organs that swell with the heart he lacks. Lord be praised indeed.
[6]
Anthony Easton: Even the blasphemy isn’t that edgy or blasphemous — in fact the obsession with capital is most likely more offensive.
[2]
Jonathan Bogart: Meek’s effervescence and (especially) the gospel-rise piano/organ hook are so infectious that they almost persuade me to overlook yet another Drake verse mumbling stonefaced about money (to his credit, he sounds livelier than I’ve yet heard him). Jeremih shows up just long enough to draw a thick line under the connection between gospel and modern R&B, but nobody’s going to remember this song for anything but the bouncing beat.
[7]
Andy Hutchins: This is what a lot of summers are going to sound like. Warm, happy bragging (and a magnificent Drake verse; he’s on a roll) over keys that prove Meek can rock non-bangers and still make great singles.
[9]