Pitchfork

T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank" was satisfyingly upfront about the strangers-in-the-night scenario that features in so many club hits. Ladies, the vocoded loverboy merely wants to purchase you a libation, ask you your name, and then take you to bed, where you'll be like, oh...you know. Presumably, that's where T-Pain shows you why they call him, as he boasts on R. Kelly's "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", uh, "Teddy Penderazdoun". How many people who've heard these songs know who Teddy Pendergrass is?

Meanwhile, "Buy U a Drank" quotes Unk's "Walk It Out", and Kanye West builds off that pattern of pop allusiveness in a verse on this new remix. Seemingly inspired, West packs his few bars with clever rap-dork references to Amerie, Swizz Beatz, and 50 Cent's Timbaland- and Timberlake-featuring "Ayo Technology". Even Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons comes under fire for hating on the First Amendment. West concludes with his signature swagger, "Fuck a drink/ I'm-a buy the bar if you're worth it." Just the way to make a light, slinky R&B song even better (and help us overlook "Young Folks").

Stream:> T-Pain and Kanye West: "Buy U a Drank (Remix)"
[original track from Epiphany; out now on Konvict/Jive]