Look into my eyes, for I am about to teach you about rhombi…
[Video][Website]
[5.78]
Crystal Leww: Acid Rap made me into a Chance fan, but “Smoke Again” is probably one of my least favorite tracks on it. Chance’s voice is particularly grating here, and that quality is brought out even more by the one-two punch of his drag out the last woooord of each line flow and that annoying siren noise in the hook. Ab-Soul has never sounded so uninspired.
[5]
Anthony Easton: “Lean all on the square, that’s a fucking rhombus” is the most delightful and mathematically accurate drug reference I have heard in recent memory. That I cannot tell whether it’s “potty” or “party” skeeves me a bit. Also their Dukes reference seems a little inaccurate.
[4]
Patrick St. Michel: “Smoke Again” doesn’t quite break into the top level of Acid Rap – that zone belongs to “Good Ass Intro,” “Pusha Man” and “Chain Smoker” – but comes in a very respectable fourth on the year’s best rap album so far. Those horn farts sound great, and are wisely never turned up loud enough to drown out Chance in all his near-raspy glory. He reminds me a little of Kendrick Lamar in his ability to bend his voice frequently, albeit Chance does it less for thematic reasons and more so because he seems to be getting a kick out of it. Ab-Soul’s bit is alright, but this one is all about showcasing Chance.
[8]
Alfred Soto: The way he leans into his whine at the end of verses is the most irritating mannerism since Ezra Koenig’s electro-chipmunk sample in “Ya Hey.” But as a De La Soul fan I’ve always got time for potty references, stupid rhymes and all.
[5]
Jonathan Bogart: The falsetto whine Chance (or somebody) employs as part of the background is reminding me of something from the 90s, but I can’t tell what. Hippy revivalism? G-funk? Jock Jams? It’s all part of the DNA of this song anyway, driven overachievers playing at lazy underachievement and almost passing.
[6]
Brad Shoup: More good vocalizing here; it’s almost like click tracks for the highest horn player. The brass we have is so close to sour, slowed like everything else here. Were the drums recorded? If so, I bet the drummer made amazing faces while going tick-bum-tick.
[6]
Jer Fairall: His rhymes are witty without being revelatory, his flow is adroitly playful without completely dodging a certain air of frat-boy smarminess, and the production—well, this is just a mixtape track, right? In other words, I kinda get the hype, but I’m not yet willing to label him as anything greater than “promising” at this point.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Those slowed-down horn parps and the slow-decay of the drumbeat are trippy enough on their own, and an ideal backdrop for Chance’s woozy flow and focused dedication to a rhyming scheme. His use of voice has a childlike sense of experimentation and play to it, how he seems to produce a line here like he’s grinning, and another like he’s gurning. Ab-Soul, on the other hand is a little on the childish side. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that he seems a bit lucid for the track.
[6]
Alex Ostroff: Chance continues the trend (started by “Juice” and “NaNa“) of releasing tracks (that I love but are) unlikely to win over those seeking an entry point but who find his vocals slightly grating. The key to “Smoke Again” is the contrast between the screwed hook and woozy horns and his exaggeratedly nasal whine; this is some deliberate, thumb-in-your-eye, messing around for fun delivery. The palpable delight in the way he leans into the line about the rhombus speaks for itself. Still, when you have material as ingratiating and likeable as Acid Rap‘s opening or closing triads, or the central trio — which include a swoonworthy interlude and a track great enough to make me enjoy Childish Gambino — putting out a video for a great track that is the definition of a grower is confusing.
[7]