If this is Spicy, so is BBQ sauce.
After creating a strong buzz in the fall with “Took Us A Break”, Lil’ Kim fails to keep the fire going on “Spicy”. She’s joined for the first time by fellow NYC legend Fabolous. The two cut the track barely a week ago and it sounds much more like a work in progress than a finished product. Despite this much-anticipated first union of two New York City legends, this song is the antithesis of “spicy”. On a scale of mild to hot sauce, this is BBQ sauce.
For starters the beat and chorus both feel amateur at best. Every aspect of both is weak. They don’t pack a punch and leave a lot to be desired. Kim’s verses are good with some clever lines (“pull up with the Draco in the trunk, call it Aubrey”; “you bitches couldn’t Xscape with TI’s wife”). However, her delivery leaves a lot to be desired. On “Took Us A Break” she sounded gritty, hungry, and most of all ready. Here she sounds half in it, and unprepared, barely eager to repeat the word “spicy” in an uninspired hook that lasts far too long.
After two hooks and a verse and a half from Kim, Fabolous enters. His entrance is damn perplexing. He starts off auto-tune singing “we steppin’ in hotter this year” like Beyonce & Sean Paul’s “Baby Boy” as a post-chorus. He launches into a hit-or-miss yet timely verse, referencing Salt Bae and Black Chyna’s head game.
These are New York City legends. They can do better. We know it and so do they.