Isn’t Rae Sremmurd also a minor Game of Thrones character?
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[5.56]
Thomas Inskeep: I don’t quite get why this record is becoming such a phenom. I mean, I like the way either Swae Lee or Slim Jimmy says “No Flex/Zone!!” like it’s two separate sentences. And Mike WiLL Made It’s beat is nicely simple. They kinda sound like Kris Kross remade as trap stars. Or “stars,” as I’m not sold on their future just yet.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: It’s not really a surprise that these kids come off so junior varsity. What’s surprising is that Mike WiLL does.
[3]
Micha Cavaseno: Look, I have a contractual obligation to mindlessly cosign any time teenagers from the South leer and jeer over shimmering melodies, so long as they’re not using puppies to distract you from how untalented they are. Mike WiLL doesn’t do anything special here (not that he does so often), and these kids don’t say anything unique. But as far as mission statements go, you could do much worse.
[5]
Crystal Leww: Mike WiLL is not the hero of 2014, and “No Flex Zone” is not even the best Mike WiLL beat of 2014. It’s a fine foundation to build a song off, and Rae Sremmurd do a good job with what they’re given. They growl and squeak through the verses, but unfortunately, little of this is enduring besides the hook. Points for giving us yet another good Nicki Minaj remix though.
[6]
Hazel Robinson: Surely something so opposed to flexing has never sounded more like an audio expression thereof? This is great: ridiculously cocky and mulish, it’s the sound of that one shouty small kid at the back of the bus who can’t stop getting into scrapes. Also serious kudos to the shout-out to a substantial condom supply for your major player sex needs.
[8]
Alfred Soto: Over the usual Mike WiLL beat, this crew think of 50 ways to bang their lovers. The OK hook depends on the tension between the high-pitched vocals and the stentorian stresses.
[5]
David Sheffieck: There’s life left in yelp-rap, though I’m not sure how much — Slim Jimmy runs off with this track when he drops his voice enough that he doesn’t sound like he’s about to crack with every syllable. The biggest issue, though, is how much this sounds like a rough sketch stretched to feature-length: between the over-long hook and extended outro, there’s a sense that the song’s trying to punch above its weight and failing.
[4]
Brad Shoup: For half the hook, Swae’s got the same rasp as the trunk-rattling bass. Not every voice lands nearly as well, but it’s been fun hearing all these guys shake off more natural timbres in favor of whatever gets the job done. The beginning synth pattern hints at some “Sail”/”Animals”-type piracy, but the bass comes through like a wrecking ball, leaving only the foundation.
[6]
David Lee: Limitless charisma rumbling forth from a treehouse perched in the thick forest of adult problems that winds through my brain. “They knooooow better” is the perfect vowel-stretching answer to Axl Rose’s “Take! Me! Hooooome!” Who needs to concoct a paradise city when you can always just get in the zone?
[8]