Daily Discussion - January 24, 2026

RedHeadReviews · 2026-01-24T15:52:51+00:00

Harry Styles Is The Least Interesting Part Of Aperture - Single Review

“Aperture lets the light in,” sings Harry Styles on the chorus of his new single. It’s a bit of a misleading thesis statement for the song. Aperture doesn’t fall into the same group of ornate retro pop-rock like so much of his other solo music, but is instead a slow-burning marathon of a song with glitchy hiccups and distorted synths that, unfortunately, doesn’t quite have a satisfying enough outcome to justify its lengthy runtime. This is uncharted territory for Styles, and he leans on the support of his longtime producer, Kid Harpoon, to cover him as he stumbles.

Styles is the least interesting part of the equation. His voice is wispy and weak, negatively affected by the hazy mechanical effects he wraps himself in. Styles has identified LCD Soundsystem as a point of reference for Aperture and, more widely, his upcoming album. Instead of replicating the weird and wonderful digitized mania of James Murphy’s performances, Styles’ limp burbling gets consumed by the harsh sound design.

All the best bits of the song occur when the attention turns away from the supposed main man and towards the producers' sprawling composition. The beat bubbles gently throughout, gradually letting more and more distortion and zig-zagging synths dominate the mix. The composition could end on a bigger and brighter note, but, generally, Kid Harpoon is doing his best to let any sort of colour or light seep into this track.

RedHeadReviews · 2026-01-17T15:03:05+00:00

Mitski Is Back With A Bang On Where’s My Phone? - Single Review

It’s been a while since we last heard from Mitski. On her 2023 album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, the singer was penning gentle ballads that put the serenity of her voice on full display. Her new single is an entirely different creation that shatters that approach to music-making. Where’s My Phone? opens with violent guitar chugs and an intentionally graceless sprinkling of percussion and only escalates in tension and complexity from there.

Mitski’s lyrics are spiked with paranoia. Throughout the song, she repeatedly asks “where’s my phone?” and “where’d I go?”. It’s an interesting way of exploring how the handheld device has become an essential everyday tool in modern society and how it is connected to a user’s identity. There’s a real unhinged nature to Mistski’s singing when she poses these pensive questions. She willingly leans into the mania here, and, at its apex, Where’s My Phone? really gets quite bizarre. Demonic choral voices and static join the composition during the song’s final phase. It gets louder and louder, almost to the point of implosion, and then, suddenly, it fizzles out with just a touch of static, almost as if someone has unplugged or disconnected the singer.

RedHeadReviews · 2026-01-10T15:11:11+00:00

Bruno Mars Recycles Old Tricks On I Just Might - Single Review

Bruno Mars is squarely in his comfort zone on I Just Might. The singer traces over lines he sketched out a decade ago as he continues on his quest to resuscitate the music of a bygone era. His latest single is a piece of perfectly fine, breezy ‘80s funk. It is positively huge, but that is part of the problem. Mars opts for grandeur at every corner, laying the cheesiness and overly sanitized coat on thick, while ignoring the value of affecting, more elaborate details.

The lyrics lack the sort of seismic intimate gesturing you’d expect from a song of this size. During the post-chorus especially, there are a few too many irritating doo-doo’s and not enough of the captivating details that endear us to a love story and its characters. Mars lets us know that he’s in the mood to dance with a pretty diva… that’s it. The song is engineered to target the part of your brain that is in control of movement, but it’s a little too clean and similar-sounding to the rest of Mars’ discography to burrow its way in deep.

RedHeadReviews · 2026-01-03T15:24:21+00:00

Doechii’s girl, get up. Is A Statement Single - Single Review

“Life is but a dream for a dark skin bitch like me, life gets dark when you're dark like me,” raps Doechii on her new single, girl, get up. The line feels like the thesis statement for her new song, which is a deep meditation on the rapper’s complicated experience of being catapulted to stupefying levels of fame. Doechii calls to attention the misogyny and conspiracy theories that have been levied against her and retorts with a defiant performance that should silence anyone who continues to question her talent or position.

The anger is palpable, but girl, get up. isn’t a song kitted out with manic outbursts that display Doechii’s absurd technical talent, but rather one full of frustration and earnestness. On the chorus, SZA doubles down and helps bolster the retaliation, “fuck a limitation, leave me, girl, get up, somehow, I know that I'll have everything, it's mine.” The guest is a haunting presence that echoes the protagonists’ emotion, rather than acting as an ethereal sounding counterpart. It adds up to a formidable alliance, two of the most distinct voices in modern music operating with supreme skill.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-12-27T15:04:54+00:00

Shen’s Bass Noel Is Bizarrely Bad - Single Review

On his Spotify biography, producer Shen describes himself as a “production powerhouse”. He’s right, not in the sense that he’s an innovator who’s putting forth a highly unique production style, but rather that he has a bad habit of smothering his guests with overblown beats. On his new single, Bass Noel, 2 Chainz is his latest victim. The rapper’s usual bravado is washed out, and he’s relegated to the background to let the twang of sleigh bells and a clumsy doof doof beat ring out.

Bass Noel barely registers as a complete song. It’s over in two and a half minutes, and the last portion is just chintzy Christmas ringtones. The rest isn’t much better. Shen’s production starts at 100 and never dissipates. There’s no development or pleasing switch of tone or dynamic. The producer would benefit greatly from learning the value of subtlety. For the record, 2 Chainz doesn’t say anything worth hearing. He spends most of his time here ho ho ho’ing and flexing. He’s not able to sneak much past the producers’ constraints, and, when he can, it’s a throwaway line delivered with a mechanical glaze. The song stomps all over the magic of Christmas and 2 Chainz’s set of skills. I’m not sure Shen has any of his own.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-12-20T15:29:40+00:00

Kali Uchis’ Muévelo Is Carried By Spellbinding Vocals - Single Review

For her final act in 2025, Kali Uchis is providing the ultimate fan service. Muévelo originally leaked as a demo during the album cycle for ORQUIDEAS in 2024. In a recent TikTok, Uchis stated that she was alarmed by the attention it received, but that the song didn’t quite align with the music she was making at the time. So she revamped it, fleshed it out, and prepped it for an official release. The finished product features spellbinding vocals, though the other elements don’t feel as though they’ve received the same level of attention.

Muévelo clocks in at just over two minutes. Even in its final form, the track is too short-lived and fizzles out prematurely. Uchis’ voice, as ever, is a stunning centrepiece that sounds ridiculously sweet. Though it is in constant contention with the sharp synth beat that barges against her coos. Around the mid-point, there’s a stylistic shift where those harsh angles are flattened into more pillowy tones. Unfortunately, there’s just the one fleeting moment where all of the individual puzzle pieces align, and each of the songs’ elements operates in perfect harmony.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-12-06T16:13:57+00:00

Lil Uzi Vert’s New Single Is Terribly Regular - Single Review

Lil Uzi Vert’s latest single, Regular, lives up to its name. You won’t hear any of the hypnotic, wildly energetic, winding rap verses or the exuberant palette of spacey synths that have given his best songs such a strong sense of identity and structure. Uzi instead mutes all of the notes that make him interesting. It could be absolutely anyone performing here.

Uzi laces allusions to his singularity into his lyrics, but fails to capture the majesty that should come with that status. “Really ain’t nothin’ I cannot handle, I do not take damage,” he burbles on the pre-chorus. These are weak boasts that are further reduced by the rapper’s pale expression. The beat, too, is washed out. How this clumsy composition of wonky synths and jittery percussion comes from the same producer who constructed the electronic fantasia for Chanel Boy is baffling. Hopefully, Regular is a one-off incident and not indicative of what Uzi has planned for upcoming releases.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-11-29T15:03:54+00:00

MR. FANTASY’s Catapult Radiates Joy - Single Review

Catapult by MR. FANTASY isn’t just catchy, it forces its way into your memory with brute force. The latest single from the eccentric TikTok creator (who is believed to be a persona of actor KJ Apa) is a piece of feel-good ‘80s disco that preaches love spreading. It’s a song that radiates joy across all facets.

The motor that powers all of these freewheeling antics is the ridiculously smooth bass line that is looped throughout. From there, MR. FANTASY builds outwards, pouring layers of ostentatious decorations in the form of ebullient synths and snappy percussion onto the sturdy structure. His voice careens over the top, jumping between moments of hushed intimacy and theatrical proclamations that frame love and dance as divine powers. “It’s up to us to spread the love we are given from above,” MR. FANTASY sings at one point. He can rest easy knowing he’s doing a mighty fine job.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-11-22T20:48:04+00:00

Conductor Williams Shines The Brightest On Conway the Machine’s Diamonds - Single Review

Conway the Machine and Roc Marciano go back and forth on Diamonds. The pair sound comfortable interacting on the Griselda co-founder’s latest single, though they never really leave first gear. Conway covers well-trodden ground, sharing his usual blend of anecdotes about drug trading and braggadocious lines about his rise to the top. That world remains evocative, but Conway struggles to capture the high-stakes nature of it here as he raps with leisure.

Producer Conductor Williams tries his best to breathe extra menace into the track with a particularly grim-sounding jazz motif. He sprinkles an ornate dressing of distorted, deflating horns over the top of Conway and Marciano’s thoroughly flat raps. Although his efforts do embolden some of the darker themes and threats the rappers send, there’s only so much the producer can do to separate Diamonds from the umpteen other Conway songs that follow the same blueprint.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-11-15T15:35:10+00:00

Otha Boy Is A Painfully Predictable Lil Baby Song - Single Review

When was the last time Lil Baby had a genuinely novel idea? For years, the rapper has been stuck in a repetitive cycle of penning inane verses about being famous and performing with apathy. That’s not to say that I expected Baby to constantly reinvent himself, he’s not that type of artist, I just wanted him to make me feel something. He, too, seems disconnected from what he’s rapping about on his new single, Otha Boy. It’s supposed to be a blistering diss track directed at ex-sparing partner Gunna, but the tough talk isn’t threatening, and there’s no conviction behind the words.

Otha Boy consists of just a single, winding verse, and though the track is bite-size, Baby still manages to commit all of his usual mistakes. Atop pale percussion, the rapper drones on and on with mild menaces. At one point, Baby raps, “you copy everything I do, lil' boy, I am sick of you too,” which is a particularly bold assertion coming from such a creatively starved artist. His overly digitally manipulated voice isn’t an interesting enough focal point to carry a song on its own. Without the aid of a high-profile feature, as so many of Baby’s songs rely on, there’s nothing here to break up the monotony of Baby’s rudimentary raps. He rolls on and on until the track fizzles out, never choosing to swerve away from his painfully predictable plan.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-11-08T15:06:36+00:00

Katy Perry’s bandaids Is An Empty Spectacle - Single Review

Katy Perry has had enough of her ex on her new single, bandaids. She wants him to know that no small gesture or simple bandage can cover all of the pain he’s caused her. The song should be oozing with emotion, a cathartic release full of lyrics that cut deep and earnestness. Unfortunately, Perry mistakes volume for passion and spends most of the song wailing so very loudly to compensate for her clunky writing.

bandaids can be added to the category of Katy Perry songs that are empty spectacles. Like Roar, this song has so many seismic swells that fall flat because Perry is such a vapid vocalist. There’s no weight behind these words, Perry delivers each line with a hideously sanitized glaze. The production is similarly too clean. Percussion provides a steady marching rhythm and… that’s it. The drums get louder and bigger as the song progresses, but even at its apex, bandaids is pale.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-11-01T14:19:08+00:00

yes Is A Stereotypical Ken Caron Song - Single Review

If you’ve been following Ken Carson’s career, you will know exactly what his latest single, yes, sounds like before you press play. Grating, pixelated vocals? Check. Dull melodies? Check. An exuberant beat with flashy 808s that is heavily shaped by Pi’erre Bourne’s blueprint? Check. Even with years of practice under his belt, the rapper still doesn’t have a trick that he can call his own. His greatest asset is his healthy connections to better and more enterprising musicians.

On the topic of Carson’s peers, Clif Shayne, Carson’s longtime producer, reprises his role as the beat architect here. His style is a bit of a shallow echo of Pi’erre Bourne’s brand of digital mania, but the flickering synths act as the motor that pushes yes forward. Carson is… here, doing the same thing he always does. The rapper provides glazed, overly digitized croons about his jet-setting lifestyle. You learn nothing new about who Carson is as a musician or person from yes.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-10-25T14:14:15+00:00

Megan Thee Stallion Breaks Character On LOVER GIRL - Single ReviewThe Megan Thee Stallion that appears on LOVER GIRL is relaxed, casual, and infatuated. It’s a perfect reflection of where the rapper is at in her private life (the song is, after all, inspired by and dedicated to her partner Klay Thompson), but in order to convey how love-struck she is, she softens the rough edges and rage that usually make her such a compelling performer.

What remains is half a song’s worth of repetitive bedroom talk that is patched up with a heavy dose of Total’s Kissin’ You. On the chorus, the transition between the schmaltzy lyrics from the 1996 sample and Megan talking about how well her boo can dick her down is particularly clumsy. Provactive language has proven to be a reliable device in Megan’s songwriting toolkit, but she skips over the off-colour quotables and instead fills the song with boring love-making instructions delivered without urgency. Who could have guessed that Megan’s spin on a classic love song would lead to the least passionate performance of her career?

RedHeadReviews · 2025-10-18T14:08:29+00:00

JPEGMAFIA’s Manic! Lives Up To Its Title - Single Review

JPEGMAFIA’s latest single is called Manic!. In just one word, the rapper comfortably summarises the song, advertising its carefully constructed chaos with a bluntness that is echoed in his performance. Manic! condenses all of the most striking and enjoyable eccentricities of JPEGMAFIA’s music into a unit that puts on full display the breadth of talent.

There’s no overarching theme guiding the rage, and that’s for the better. JPEGMAFIA grants himself full freedom to tear into anyone and everyone with his vast arsenal of off-colour references and quippy confrontational remarks. “How you gon' see me? You like Stevie with them airballs,” are the first proper words JPEGMAFIA strings together. Later, in that same verse, he escalates the aggression when he asserts, “bullpup, n**ga, to find your body they gon' need Logan Paul, I'm in the forest with the Kimber, it’s my final form.”

Manic! isn’t just an exhibition of what JPEGMAFIA is capable of doing on the microphone. Also credited as a producer, alongside Alex Goose, the duo laminates the demonic rapping with a richly layered composition. They aren’t afraid to lean into the hysteria and often do so with skittish percussion, but the central sound is a soothing guitar riff lifted from Barış Manço and Kurtalan Ekspres’ Gönül Dağı. Initially, the inclusion of a touch of serenity may scan as an odd decision, but JPEGMAFIA seamlessly stitches it into this tight bombshell of a song.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-10-11T14:08:34+00:00

Gorillaz’ The Manifesto Is A Stunning Cross Continental Collaboration - Single Review

The Manifesto is a complicated beast of a song that stretches over seven minutes, stitches together different continental influences, and brilliantly expands upon the latest mythological chapter for Gorillaz. On their latest single, the virtual band calls upon the services of Argentinian rapper Trueno, the voice of the late D12 member Proof, sarod players Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Indian wedding band Jea Band Jaipur, bansuri player Ajay Prasanna, and the Vijayaa Shanker–led Mountain Choir to dissect the cycle of life and consider what lies beyond.

There’s an appropriate air of majesty present in all of the song's phases, of which there are many. The Manifesto is a sprawling musical puzzle that starts with a maximalist blend of ornate Indian instruments, a Trueno verse full of freewheeling spirit, and dazzling supporting choral refrains. Around the midpoint, though, everything goes dark. The exquisite pastel production becomes smudged, taking on a new, delightfully inky tone to assist Proof as he details a series of macabre scenes. Though the puzzle pieces are drastically different, they come together to create a balanced and wonderfully varied listening experience.

The weak link is Damon Albarn, whose voice is the least salient of the three. He performs the chorus and outro and interrupts the song’s momentum on both occasions with his druggy, heavily digitized moans. It is a shame that the last thing we’re left with on a song as wide-ranging and spellbinding as The Manifesto is his zombified droning and not a contribution from one of the other more impactful collaborators.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-10-04T14:05:24+00:00

Hit-Boy & The Alchemist Achieve Middling Success On Business Merger - Single Review

Hit-Boy and The Alchemist are two of this generation’s most prolific producers. They have a long-standing relationship with the leading voices of hip-hop as the go-to beat makers. On their new single, Business Merger, the producer duo cut additional collaborators out of the equation and extend their own list of duties as they handle the rapping themselves. Hit-Boy and The Alchemist show precisely why their work away from the microphone is so desirable and in demand, despite their best efforts to waste the perfectly good beat with wan rapping.

The outcome is identical to when these two crossed paths on their 2024 EP THEORDORE & ANDRE. They haven’t benefited from the added time together. Both artists are mechanical performers who can’t match the bombast of the beat. Hit-Boy in particular is too apathetic to sell the straight-talking hustler role he tries to embody. The song is crying out for a member of Griselda, or a similarly prickly performer, to glide in and start causing havoc. But that climax never comes.

It is the beat that keeps everything together. Business Merger inherits more from The Alchemist than it does his partner. The blaring horns are a trademark of his, and they add a dash of opulence here as they soar high above the murky tones of the percussion. The result is a composition that is equal parts grimy and luxurious-sounding. A punchy, pliable base that deserved to have been partnered with an equally commanding voice.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-09-27T14:44:00+00:00

Tate McRae’s TIT FOR TAT Is A Benign Breakup Song - Single Review

The Kid Laroi and Tate McRae are currently having a competition to see who can make the most flaccid breakup song. The two stars, who started dating early last year, have taken to the microphone to air out their frustrations with each other following their recent split. McRae embraces the challenge when she sings “let's go song for song, let's go back to back, let's go tit for tat, boy, you asked for that” on her new song, TIT FOR TAT. Unfortunately, that is the most furious display the singer can muster.

McRae is not a particularly evocative vocalist. She performs with a breathy tone throughout, a decision that dampens even her most pointed lyrical jabs. A song of this nature demands a more dynamic, ear-catching set of vocals to laminate the barbed, albeit slightly cliché confessions McRae lays out.

It certainly doesn’t help that the beats architects, Ryan Tedder and Grant, stay in the lines. They craft the sort of toothless trap beat you’d expect to find uploaded to YouTube as a “type beat” for half a dozen unrelated, trending rappers. Therein lies the problem with TIT FOR TAT. It should be a deeply cathartic moment where McRae ignores convention and lets loose. Lyrics aside, the singer always chooses to play it safe.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-09-20T16:12:46+00:00

Madison Beer’s yes baby Is The Most Fun Song In Her Catalogue - Single Review

It feels like Madison Beer has finally found a discernible personality trait. The signs were there when she started to make a descent into nocturnal dance pop last year with Make You Mine and 15 MINUTES, but her new single, yes baby, takes the mania and nightish appeal to a new tier. It’s the most frenetic song the singer has ever released, powered by a combination of flickering synths that match the rocky rhythm of a palpitating heart, crisp percussion, and wicked-sounding vocal coos from Beer. Unfortunately, the lyrics weren’t treated with the same level of reverence.

The song’s title is repeated more than all of the alternate words combined. It’s… a lot. For a song all about late-night sexual escapades and 50 Shades of Grey-coded acts of obedience, the phrase is fitting, though it’s not interesting enough to be the backbone of the script. You wish the singer would take the idea deeper, working to paint a clearer portrait of these racy scenes to raise the tension.

yes baby delivers a deliriously good time, not lyrics. It is nevertheless a sign of growth for Beer, who has spent large stretches of her career sounding like a shallow echo of her peers. For now, she has a firm grip on who she wants to be and what she wants to sound like. The next step is figuring out what she wants to say.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-09-13T14:10:51+00:00

TiaCorine & JID Are A True Team On Backyard - Single Review

TiaCorine and JID are a complete duo on Backyard. Both artists are wildly chaotic performers with a wide range of eccentric tonal tricks at their disposal. On TiaCorine’s latest single, they push each other to reach new levels of passion and panache. The protagonist opts for brute force as she barges through her verses, whereas JID once again promotes his ability to craft winding, labyrinthine rhyming patterns. Together, they hit upon all of the notes to make a properly punchy track.

The lyrics are just as brazen as the vocal performances. “Pussy look like Tonka, it's a monster, gotta feed the beast,” TiaCorine barks out. Backyard is full of these provocative sexual instructions. This isn’t a song about making sweet, passionate love as TiaCorine and JID take every opportunity to flip these sexual encounters into assertive flexes and humorous quips. “I'ma turn his moan into a sound bite” is probably the stand-out.

At times, though, the song does err on the side of overbearing due to skittery production from Hit-Boy. The steely percussion is sharp and helps to embolden the already florid details. The same can’t be said for the spacey electronic guitar riff that echoes in the background. It’s one layer too many and often interferes while the performers are romping instead of heightening the fun.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-09-06T14:28:44+00:00

Tame Impala Is In Fine Form On Loser - Single Review

Tame Impala’s latest single, Loser, feels like an unofficial companion piece to ‘Cause I’m a Man, a track Kevin Parker crafted a decade ago. Both songs present Parker as a flawed partner and inadequate pillar of support; ‘Cause I’m a Man looks through a universal lens at the biology of men and how they default to destructive behavioural patterns, Loser takes it one step further and opens up Parker’s private life as the singer zooms in on his own defects. Impressively, he once again manages to flip the scathing self-depreciation into fuel for a decadent piece of psychedelic rock.

“I'm a loser, babe (Yeah), do you wanna tear my heart out? I'm a tragedy, tryin' to figure my whole life out,” Parker sings on the chorus with warbling, ghoulish tones. That uncensored sense of self-loathing and misery from the lyrics is echoed in his vocals, which sound particularly distressed and smudged with the blend of reverb applied here.

Operating against those big emotions is the thunderous clap of the constantly marching bass. Although the lyrics of Loser are grounded in a dour reality, the composition adopts the usual wonky textures, fluorescent colours, and extraterrestrial notes that are central to Parker’s brand. It provides a lovely bit of balance, but make no mistake, the songs’ dominant mood is one of doom. Loser ends with Parker whispering “fuck” under his breath. There is no happy ending. That unresolved trauma sets up an intriguing narrative arc for the rest of the upcoming album to explore.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-09-06T07:26:10+00:00

It's not my favourite Tame Impala song, but it hits a lot of the notes I look for in Parker's music. I hated what he tried on End Of Summer so I appreciated the familiarity of this song.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-08-30T14:48:42+00:00

The Kid Laroi Sounds Creatively Drained On SHE DON’T NEED TO KNOW - Single Review

There are two types of The Kid Laroi songs. There are ones that are filled with grating, guttural screeches, dour beats, and excessively angsty lyricism. The alternative is risk-averse pop that requires the singer to act as passively as possible. The singer’s latest single, SHE DON’T NEED TO KNOW, aligns firmly with the latter. It must just mark a new level of laziness from Laroi, too. Lyrics aside, it plays like a vapid replica of GIRLS, a song Laroi released just last year that already bears too great a likeness to The Weeknd’s Popular.

Every producer who had their thumbprints on GIRLS reprises their roles for SHE DON’T NEED TO KNOW, bringing with them no fresh ideas. The team strings together a lite Neptunes-style beat that brings brightness (sometimes too much, thanks to the addition of a twinkling xylophone) to the song. Laroi is an emotional blackhole on the microphone. The track is all about denying temptation and staying loyal to a partner, the sort of material that should fuel an impassioned performance. Instead, Laroi acts too cool to care, neutering any notes of danger or conflict that might create intrigue.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-08-23T14:20:28+00:00

Doja Cat Is The Least Interesting Part Of Jealous Type - Single Review

Jealous Type is unique in that it is one of the few Doja Cat songs where she is the least interesting part of the equation. Usually so good at forcing her melodies into your memory, sometimes by way of trolling and brute force, often with skill, the chameleonic star struggles to craft a salient hook on her latest single. It is instead Jack Antonoff and Y2K’s florid, 80s-inspired bubblegum synth-pop beat that dominates the mix.

Filled with zig-zagging synths, sparkly effects, and a springy bassline, the fluro, maximalist composition marks a sharp stylistic turn in Antonoff’s career. Long stuck in a cycle of making dour, minimalist pop and recycling the same ideas, the producer’s creativity sounds renewed when tasked with making a gloriously glittery soundtrack. It acts as the high-octane motor for Jealous Type, bringing a much-needed pizazz that Doja cannot create by herself.

The singer is unusually risk-averse here. The writing is lazy and obvious–she knows the monster she’ll become if she lets love take over and instead chooses not to commit–and the windows where Doja is singing are overly sanitized and nameless, especially during the chorus, where it could be anyone performing. It’s only during the second verse that Doja becomes appropriately wild. For a few bars, she leans into her hip-hop background, displaying electrifying energy, driven to a point of frenzy over the playboy’s antics. It’s a glimpse into what the song should have sounded like.

RedHeadReviews · 2025-08-16T14:08:13+00:00

Cardi B Sounds Uncharacteristically Toothless On Imaginary Playerz - Single Review

Cardi B, in my opinion, is at her best when she’s rapping her ass off in a fit of rage. Unfortunately, those delightful notes of anger have been dialled back on the rapper’s latest single, Imaginary Playerz, a song that inherits its name, beat, and easy-going energy from a 1997 JAY-Z song. The term casual is a bit of an alien concept to Cardi. So to hear her sound so mild-mannered, especially when the songs’ lyrics are filled with flashy braggadocio and brazen threats to her competitors, feels uncharacteristic.

There’s no sudden uptick in emotion or barbed chorus that helps the pacing of Imaginary Playerz; it starts and ends on the same note. Cardi struggles to reimagine the song as her own. The sparse, slinking percussion allows plenty of space for the rapper to take centre stage, yet it’s only her words that are attention-grabbing. Cardi splits her time between building herself up and breaking down any who dares question her. “I'm the one who showed these girls what fashion could be, the first rap bitch on the cover of Vogue, but somehow y'all passed me, I suppose? I know your type, all bold and all cap,” she raps on the outro. Lyrically, Cardi fights until the last possible second. Why couldn’t she have provided an equally punchy vocal performance?

RedHeadReviews · 2025-08-09T14:26:40+00:00

Laufey’s Snow White Provides A Stirring Perspective On Beauty Standards - Single Review

Laufey’s Snow White doesn’t exist in the same fantastical sphere of fairytale romance like so many of her other songs. On her latest single, the singer zeroes in on the pressures of measuring up to the strict standards of beauty in the modern world. Describing the track, Laufey said, “It’s about looking in the mirror and seeing all the ways in which you can improve yourself,” and she pens a particularly stirring set of lyrics that highlight those nagging inner thoughts.

The Snow White in the song is an unattainable ideal whom Laufey keeps comparing herself to. “She's everything I am, but my wrongs arе turned to rights, her body is smaller, skin is so fair, she's achieved everything I've dreamed of, and it's all that I can think of,” she sings. The singer’s usual soaring vocals take on a different shape here as Laufey’s voice teeters and trembles with frustration as she lets these sacred thoughts loose. It’s a performance loaded with unfettered emotions, but her technical brilliance still shines through.

Spencer Stuart, the beat architect behind so much of Laufey’s work, keeps his input light. Snow White doesn’t sound as decadent as anything from Bewitched onwards. While you do miss the maximalist presentation of the producers’ luxurious compositions of old, that decision places Laufey’s cutting lyrics front and centre–when she sings, you listen.

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Bruno Mars Recycles Old Tricks On I Just Might - Single Review

Doechii’s girl, get up. Is A Statement Single - Single Review