zayALLCAPS: “MTV’s Pimp My Ride” Track Review

In the 2010s, Los Angeles churned out a kind of sultry alt-R&B influenced just as much by the sunny hooks of 2000s urban radio as the grooves of the city’s psychedelic beat scene—think early Anderson .Paak, the Internet, or Thundercat. “MTV’s Pimp My Ride,” by L.A.-by-way-of-Sacramento newcomer zayALLCAPS, sounds a little like something from this era of head-nod jams, with a beat manipulated by the scene’s defining piece of gear, the SP-404. It’s also a certified anthem. For one, it immediately delivers on the promise of every great R&B song: a big hook that worms its way into your brain on impact. Zay’s sumptuous vocal harmonies—somewhere between Pi’erre Bourne and Omarion—layer over the titular line, propelled by drunken beat stutters from producer Keem the Cipher. Then, in a Frank Ocean-esque mutter flow, Zay sells a pretty wild car metaphor: “I heard love is what you like so I put it in your trunk/You know I seen your old ride, that’s a hunk of junk.” Budding feelings map onto the inertia of L.A. traffic, double texts, and awkward conversation in the backseat. But it’s really all about that monster chorus: As Keem’s gorgeous beat detunes, decelerates, then balloons back into shape near the end, you can close your eyes and picture the colors of summer forming.