Not pictured: actual Naughty Boy.
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[6.25]
Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: Kyla is a stellar vocalist. She gave us the hook of 2016 without having to record a single word, so it’s natural for a comeback to have her sing a track in which she gets the entire spotlight. Naughty Boy’s breezy production provides the necessary space for such a solid, sweeping vocal, accentuating with some plucking strings. Popcaan’s contribution is minimal, but come on, we’re talking about an artist whose very aura is just enough to improve Drake tracks.
[7]
Anthony Easton: The percussion in this is excellent, but I don’t really miss it when drops out and that gorgeous bit about three quarters of the way through — it’s a mark of excellent production.
[6]
Alfred Soto: “Is that Rihanna singing over a Stargate track?” a music critic friend asked over the phone.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: Maybe its a little cynical to note that Popcaan, exiled from “Controlla,” and Kyla, career revived by “One Dance,” are being united under Naughty Boy possibly to cash-in on Drake’s successes. Given how brief her first career opportunities went, Kyla’s girl-next-door vocals are a welcome addition in a playing field so dominated by stylizing, affection and bombast, and Popcaan’s role is limited to being tacked on until his solo verse gives him the rare shot to prove how welcome he’d be in the worlds outside of dancehall. In total, the song is rather disposable, but on the strength of its guests it grants them another moment in the sun outside of one tastemaker’s careful curation.
[6]
Ryo Miyauchi: These days of Drake and the Weeknd, “it should’ve been me all along” in pop songs rings spiteful often than not. “Should’ve Been Me” may not fully differ from the pack as Naughty Boy sources that a bit through Popcaan’s side of the story. But before we get there, Kyla grieves with genuine regret. She swallows her pride and takes the L, but not without admitting to some bitterness. “You’re happy, and I hate it” stings most personally as it sums up the hurt in this otherwise sunny bop.
[7]
Scott Mildenhall: It’s impossible to know whether Ellie Goulding would share this song’s sentiment, but she would have surely sounded far less at home on it than Kyla. Then again, while Kyla is more than proficient she, as with both of her credited collaborators, fails to express the sentiment with palpable conviction. There’s a hint of bittersweetness from her end (less from Popcaan’s), but when the title has such a memorable precedent, it’s hard not to long for the untempered ferocity of Yvonne Fair.
[6]
Hannah Jocelyn: Thus far, Mr. Boy’s most famous song remains a four-minute whiny squeal that’s probably to blame for the rise of the chipmunk drop. So, it’s actually kind of neat that years after he accidentally births that trend, he chases the tropical house trend surprisingly well. Everything sounds bouncier, upbeat, and even tougher than most house/dancehall/reggeaton-lite songs over the past year. Lyrically, though, it falls more in line with the glorious angst of his Bastille collaboration “No One’s Here to Sleep,” if better executed here — lines like “You’re happy and I hate it” and “We were supposed to get married” cut through the joyous beat, and suggest that the added aggressiveness of the instrumental is to the lyrics’ underlying anger (as opposed to a contrast). The Popcaan verse drags down the song though, as from what I can tell, it kind of sounds like he’s pouring salt in Kyla’s wound. The six other writers here were probably going for something like “Somebody That I Used To Know,” but it doesn’t work as well here because Popcaan is not connected to the song enough. Fans of the lyrics should seek out Tristian Prettyman’s excellent “I Was Gonna Marry You,” which has a similar theme but trades the tropical bounce for a more honest sorrow of being left just before the altar.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: This is almost a reggae-fied twist on plenty of singles featuring Jess Glynne, only with Kyla providing more personality in her vocals, Popcaan toasting just a bit on the fringes, and Naughty Boy nailing the beat. Will probably sound amazing in a hot summer, but still sounds good even in (northern hemisphere) winter.
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