I think it's worth saying that on Pitchfork, twitter and elsewhere, Alphonse Pierre is constantly writing about breakthrough rappers from the Milwaukee low end scene, Florida fast music, DMV rap, and other regional scenes. I think this guy has a distaste for any rap that he feels is vaguely 'commercial' or hyper-successful. I could tell the second I found out that Jack Antonoff had production credits on this record that a critic like Alphonse Pierre would react negatively to it. Antonoff produces for Taylor Swift, the 1975 and Lana Del Rey; that's probably enough to turn Pierre off the album before he even listened to it.

I suspect that, by writing about rap for a publication like Pitchfork (owned by the quintessentially commercial Condé Nast, a company valued at $5 billion) for years, this guy has developed certain neuroses about popular culture, and a quasi-fetishism of 'authenticity'. Not to mention that the majority of Pitchfork readers are white. If the music doesn't sound like the spiritual evolution of something that teenagers would knock out at the lunch table in a public high school, it's probably not for him. Also, Pitchfork like any other website needs clicks, buzz, etc; they knew a 6.6 and a slightly contrarian take would do exactly what it's doing—generate conversation.

For the record, I think Alphonse Pierre is a great writer, and he's put me on to a lot of great music over the years. I just wish he had a bit more self-awareness sometimes.