Jacquees, Young Thug, and Gunna Want to Teach You How to Verify Your Relationships

Good — or at least entertaining — R&B often succeeds on how well it embraces the highest of stakes. When it comes to the expansive inner worlds of rhythm and blues, the flirting is Machiavellian, everyone spits game like the Bard, and the subsequent sex is never just sex; it’s life-changing. Jacquees consistently upholds this ideal. On “Verify,” featuring Young Thug and Gunna, he spins a ludicrous hook over gentle strings and stuttering drums: “Yes, I love your physical, but it’s your energy / I got no fear to put you on a pedestal, but are you trustin’ me.” In the real world, this would be an embarrassing come-on, but the Cash Money singer’s silky voice expertly sells the theatrics.

Young Thug and Gunna are very concerned with verifying that their lovers are trustworthy, thorough, and worthy of their love. According to Thug, Lamborghinis and Ferraris are one way to be verified, but Gunna doesn’t want to verify his significant other until he determines how much lean she can sip. The entire process seems vague and likely ill-equipped to authenticate a long string of potential partners. Fortunately, the mentor and protégé have innate chemistry that lets their back-and-forth, 16-bar verse sound immaculate.

In December, during the midst of his “King of R&B” run, Jacquees described what differentiates his sophomore album from his debut, 4275. “Subject matter, of course it’s always going to be like the same type of subject, but in a different way of saying it,” Jacquees said. “Different production, this time I’m trying to make you dance a little more. I’m just on a different type of cool. I just want you to get out your seat if you’re in a club or if you’re somewhere I want you to turn it up and jam. I want you to feel like you want to dance, like you want to step or something.”