"A-O-K" is, on a smaller scale, the same kind of pop/rock/rap hybrid hit that crossed over to multiple radio formats that "Mood" was last year, so 24kGoldn's appearance on the remix makes a certain kind of sense. But I still just hate "A-O-K" and think it's not really possible to salvage it. 

Best Verse: n/a

Overall Grade: C-

Country's big crossover hit of 2021 is a bullshit TikTok song about Applebee's, and I feel mean saying that this song is already pretty close to Kesha's sound and brand but hey, it is, this remix is a shrewd idea. But again, not really possible to salvage it, though her harmonies sound good on the chorus. 

The album version of "Find A Way" just had Lil Baby on it, so his running mate Durk just added a verse for the single mix. It feels like just a little too much for a H.E.R. track, though, and Durk's warbling over the intro sounds awful. 

After "Telepatia" was a surprise hit from Kali Uchis's Spanish language album, it's a good idea to remix another song from the album with a big star, but I didn't expect SZA to sing in Spanish, or for it to sound pretty good. 

Bad Boy isn't listed alongside Sony and Epic on French Montana's latest album, and it's not really clear whether Bad Boy is an active label in any sense anymore. But Diddy is nonetheless French's latest video and also makes a cameo on the "FWMGAB" remix. Moneybagg has never really been on a New York beat like this before but he sounds pretty good on it. 

The original "Gyalis" is absolutely awful so this remix can't help but improve upon it, especially when Popcaan shows up. 

"Ok Cool" is the biggest song by Chicago rapper CEO Trayle, and it's kind of a piercingly blunt and sometimes funny breakup song, I don't really fuck with a lot of emotionally toxic rap music about relationships but this song feels kind of immediate and unguarded. But it's not really the kind of song that you can easily plug a guest verse into, and even though Gunna sticks to the topic and says "bitch" a lot, it just tips the song over into feeling more gross than when it was just one guy venting. 

Logic recently "retired" from music for roughly 11 months before he resumed releasing new music (and not even that long, really, since there was a whole album under an alias in that period too). So it's a funny illustration of how brief and fake that retirement was that one of Logic's first new tracks after unretiring was a remix of the single from his farewell album. 

"RIP Young" was one of the most popular songs on The House Is Burning and this remix appears on the new deluxe edition, I love that Project Pat has had a nice run of notable features lately, he killed this verse. 

Best Verse: Project Pat 

Overall Grade: B

It seems like anytime an obnoxious slang term starts spreading, it's just a matter of time before it becomes the hook of a hit song, and I will give Hxllywood credit that he came out with this song really early in the process of the words "sneaky link" becoming ubiquitous. But it's still just a very mediocre song, and Kayla Nicole really livens it up, perfect vibe for her. 

This whole song is an homage to Boosie and his early hitmaker era, but Boosie is on some bullshit these days so it's just as well that he's not on the remix, and it's fun to hear Tity Boi on a bounce track like this. 

Best Verse: 2 Chainz

Overall Grade: B

"Transparent Soul" is one of my favorite songs out of this whole trend of everybody from outside the traditional rock world suddenly making pop punk and alt-rock, and Kid Cudi could be seen as as a forefather of that scene since he was doing stuff like the WZRD album a decade ago. But I don't particularly like Cudi's style of singing and I think it sounds terrible and awkward here and the acoustic section just doesn't work. 

"Twinnem" is, like the original versions of "Gyalis," "Perfect," and "Sneaky Link," less than 2 minutes long, so it kind of feels like a lot of these songs felt like snippets to begin with and only became complete songs once they were remixed. But "Twinnem" is a surprisingly good song, and DaBaby is just an embarrassing dork now, so I hope the original Coi Leray solo version remains the most popular version of the song. 

The original "Who Want Smoke?" is a terrible, borderline incoherent song where the best/worst line is "I think my draco might be gay (why?)/ 'cause he blow n****s." But the song has a cool ominous beat, and the remix features 3 of the biggest street rap artists circa 2021, so it ends up being a pretty solid remix. Durk's verse is great because he talks about fans on Instagram acting like tough guys and telling him he needs to avenge King Von's death like he's not a celebrity who's being watched 24/7. 

I love remixes that kind of follow the lead from the original song. "Wockesha" opened with a snippet of a Lil Wyane interview and the DeBarge piano sample famous from hits by the Notorious B.I.G. and Ashanti, so the "Wockesha" remix has Wayne flipping Biggie lyrics and Ashanti singing bits of "Foolish," it's all pretty perfectly executed. 

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