WhenDisclosureandAnderson .Paakannounced that they’d be releasing a collaboration, fans were understandably excited. The former is responsible for over a decade of hits, including “Latch” and “When a Fire Starts to Burn” from the legendary albumSettle.Meanwhile, the latter has garnered attention for his smooth, upbeat verses, particularly onAn Evening With Silk Sonic,his joint album withBruno Mars. However, the product of Disclosure andAnderson .Paak’s partnership—a nearly four-minute track called “No Cap”—sounds like brainrot, rife with made-for-social-media hype but entirely bereft of depth.
The Lyrics of “No Cap” Sound Like a List of Gen Alpha Slang
First, the song is loaded with so much slang that it barely makes sense. Standout lyrics include, “Got what you need, BDE,” “wifey dripping like icy,” and, of course, the incessant repetition of “no cap.” It’s like listening to an unseasoned middle school teacher trying desperately to relate to their students, or perhaps like two artists writing lyrics based on SEO terms to create a track that goes viral on TikTok. What the songwriters evidently fail to understand is that Gen Z and Gen Alpha (to whom they seem to be appealing) detest anything that reeks of “tryhard energy”—something that this track embodies. Furthermore,contemporary slanghas such a short shelf life that “No Cap” hinders its own longevity by relying on these viral terms so heavily. “BDE,” for instance, has long peaked and waned in popularity.
Other lyrics in the song evoke the dance tracks of the early 2000s, urging unseen dance partners to move closer, gyrate, and take off their clothes à la50 Cent’s “In Da Club” orUsher’s “Yeah!” However, in addition to the unrelenting slang in “No Cap” destroying its potential nostalgia, the song also lacks the coherent narrative that its predecessors had, which was precisely what made those songs hits. “No Cap” seems like it was calibrated solely for catchiness and internet popularity; like something one would expect after running the prompt “write me a viral song for TikTok” throughAI.Its desire to resonate with young audiences stands in the way of its coherence, so that on first listen, it sounds more like a list of words than it does a fully-formed thought.
The Beat on “No Cap” Is a Let-Down for Disclosure Fans
Disclosure’s beat on “No Cap” is certainly buoyant, but it lacks the singularity and edginess that set the duo apart during the early 2000s. It’s easy to identify Disclosure on the tracks made during their prime, but that’s not the case with this track. In addition to skewing more bubblegum pop than house or trance, “No Cap” sounds like a royalty-free beat; like something preloaded into beginner DJ software. Rather than showing off how far they’ve come and how much they’ve learned since coming on the scene, Disclosure seems to have taken the path of least resistance with “No Cap,” craftinga repetitive beat with an underwhelming dropthat subtly hints at the duo’s genius without ever delivering on it.
Of course, not every song can be a hit, nor can every piece of art be a masterpiece. However, “No Cap” borders on nonsensical with its excessive use of slang, and it reads like musical brainrot. Furthermore, it represents the unsettling possibility that tomorrow’s music will be built for internet virality and search engine optimization—something that would undoubtedly spellthe death of original songwriting.
