Metric + Rye Rye | Tracks

“Better than You”
Rye Rye feat. M.I.A.

The best pop songs are a pair of red overalls and pigtails away from being straight-up children’s music, and “Better than You” comes right off the playground. Rye Rye is essentially the Muppet Babies to M.I.A.’s Muppets. The squeaky 21-year-old doesn’t sound a day over 21 months. The pixie’s candy-coated new album, Go! Pop! Bang!, even comes with a set of neon nail polishes, like Baltimore Barbie. The innocent spitfire image is nailed in the hopscotch beat by So Japan, which samples “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun. Betty Hutton, gangsta at last. It worked wonders for Jay-Z and Annie. When it comes to bragging, Rye Rye focuses on her superior sneakers and hair. To her credit, she never mentions rapping. It’s mentor M.I.A. who schools Mini Maya in the yard. “Heard you singing songs that sounds [sic] like me.… I do it better,” big sis says. It’s too blunt of a reminder. She’s not just dissing imitators but employees, too. What a dick boss.