Emmanuel Elone: Bas’ recent album, Too High to Riot, is a decent, laid back hip-hop album, and “Matches” is a prime example of that. English group the Hics lay down a chill, cloud rap beat with some nice vocals on the chorus, and Bas does a good job on the verses. Sonically, “Matches” is a great song. It’s issue, though, lies in Bas himself; while he’s not a bad lyricist, nothing about his verses are exceptional. There’s also the fact that, as a Dreamville artist, he takes his emceeing cues from J. Cole far too often, and sounds more like a copycat than an artist in his own right. Still, “Matches” is a great sounding, inoffensive hip-hop song, even if Bas wears his influences on his sleeve a bit too much. [6/10]
Chris Ingalls: Solid, jazzy rhymes combine with a sparse musical arrangement. The general vibe is a laid-back one, where the piano and both male and female vocals give off a leisurely atmosphere. It’s a late-night, after-the-party drive home track. Smooth. [7/10]
Pryor Stroud: Suffused with Bas’ crisp, dexterous rhyming and distinctive vocabulary, “Matches” is a mellowed-out hip-hop excursion that bears traces of Drake’s heedless bravado and Kendrick’s self-aware sensitivity. The beat incorporates wordless choral dronings, chiming piano chords, and a skittering, snap-snare drum loop, all of which seem to converge into a dense cloud of regret and retrospection afflicting Bas’ lyric. “Rolling down the slippery slope / Stay on point, I tippy toe it / Won’t you smile it gives me hope / Pray that you forgive me for it”, he raps, and the precariousness of his situation is eminently present in his voice, each word a tiptoed footstep above the beat that emblematizes all the mistakes he’s made and wishes he could take back. One wrong move and he’ll lose his balance, thereby allowing all of these mistakes to subsume, define, and ultimately cripple his relationship to a point of no return. [6/10]
Chad Miller: The intro music is amazing. The opening rap is pretty good too, nothing too inventive, but the flow sounds nice with the music. The melody is pretty fitting melodically although it sounds a little awkward rhythmically. Vocalist Dayette sounds really good when she gets into the song too which is a nice addition to the piece. [7/10]