Not to play spoiler, but today is “Official ‘One Dance’ Revival Thursday.”
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[4.29]
Micha Cavaseno: Just like another ‘starboy‘ before him, and after him, Wizkid’s freshness appears severely dulled by success. I get that anyone can flip “Dem Bow” to great success… But by that same right, it feels extra criminal when the song riding it is so very boring.
[3]
Ryo Miyauchi: The voice on the chorus hollers like an anonymous regular in the club, and Wizkid likewise treats her call to dance like business as usual. He reveals his strategy to win her over in a set of simple 12-step instructions to show how easy this is, but his half-committed energy makes me lose him by step #8.
[5]
Iain Mew: The song isn’t very exciting, but its repetition of “make me dance”/”make her dance” works well enough to save it. The sense of compulsion, of carrying on to the point where the question of why or even whether floats away, is a feeling that comes across in every single-minded beat and performance choice.
[6]
Juana Giaimo: There is something quite submissive in the chorus in the robotized female vocals (that aren’t even credited) and Wizkid doesn’t do much to change that aspect in his verses either. I may be overinterpreting, but it still makes me cringe.
[5]
Alfred Soto: Too brief to cause lasting damage, too innocuous to judge, the hook and patois sound as much a preset as the beats.
[2]
Hannah Jocelyn: This particular dancehall groove, including that exact snare sound, has blasted out of every car in New York City since around the time “Gasolina” broke through to the U.S, reappearing in various forms throughout the years. That Wizkid shouts out the Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex here is probably not a coincidence. I dismissed this as more of the same my first listen, but then I realized there’s something about that call-and-response hook that is almost hypnotic. It kind of scares me, actually, how often it’s been stuck in my head, especially the way the backup singers say the title in this half-spoken tone. Daddy-yooooo make me dance. The exact kind of touch that earworms are made of.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: I wish I liked this more, but it’s just Wizkid riding a pretty average dancehall beat and talking up the ladies. Five minutes later, I forget I’ve heard it.
[3]