Since their debut, VVS have yet to score a song rating above the sixes on this blog, which puts them in rarified air. To make matters worse, I constantly get them confused with VVUP, who have fared a little better ratings-wise. In general, any act that puts dollar signs in their song titles is unlikely to appeal to me, and seven out of eight songs on VVS’s new mini album arrive with a prominent “$”.

$tay The Night closes the album on a slightly more melodic tone than most of the group’s work. VVS’s music is obssessed with trap percussion and that drives this track as well, which is a shame because $tay The Night‘s hooky chorus would work so much better with a livelier instrumental. At its best, it has a chintzy early-2010s nostalgia — almost like a Rihanna chorus tacked on to a hip-hop track by Eminem or Jay-Z. but before you assume I’m comparing the songwriting here to those artists, take a look at some of the beautiful bars on display throughout the track’s verses:

“I am not an actor, this is not a script
I want the wrist, I want the wrist, I want the wrist to be VVS dripped (Woah)”

“Hop in the V, pull up the street
Shawty so bad, she pushin’ that P
I’m down in Florida, ’cause I got the keys”

Feels authentic, right?

Anyway, I was playing around with giving this a “7” because it’s not actively annoying like so many of their other songs, but VVS tradition dictates I go a notch lower. I suppose the “$” brings it down to a 6.75.

Grade: D+