 August Brown of the Los Angeles Times gave the song a negative review , commenting that " Kendrick Lamar somehow packs more personality into a halfhearted hook on ' Forbidden Fruit ' than Cole gets in the song " . Phillip Mlynar of Spin felt that " [ the song 's ] quirky bass line and warm @-@ keys motif are so recognizable that it 's a brow @-@ furrowing challenge to hear anything other than Q @-@ Tip and Phife 's original vocals in the space between the beat and the new raps . " Mlynar further stated that " Cole himself ( along with Kendrick Lamar 's guest spot ) ends up evaporating entirely — he 's upstaged by loftier artists who aren 't even there . " Contrarily , Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest expressed his appreciation for Cole 's production : " [ He ] didn 't like try to do what was already done . [ He ] brought other parts to the sample that you caught that I was like , ' Oh , nice ! ' " 
 August Brown of the Los Angeles Times gave the song a negative review , commenting that " Kendrick Lamar somehow <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>packs</mark></a> more personality into a halfhearted hook on ' Forbidden Fruit ' than Cole <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>gets</mark></a> in the song " . Phillip Mlynar of Spin felt that " [ the song <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>] quirky bass line and warm @-@ keys motif are so recognizable that it 's a brow @-@ furrowing challenge to hear anything other than Q @-@ Tip and Phife <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>original vocals in the space between the beat and the new raps . " Mlynar further stated that " Cole himself ( along with Kendrick Lamar <a href='null_genetive' title='5'><mark>'s</mark></a>guest spot ) <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>ends</mark></a> up evaporating entirely — he 's upstaged by loftier artists who aren 't even there . " Contrarily , Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest expressed his appreciation for Cole <a href='null_genetive' title='7'><mark>'s</mark></a>production : " [ He ] didn 't like try to do what was already done . [ He ] brought other parts to the sample <a href='null_relcl' title='8'><mark>that</mark></a>you caught that I was like , ' Oh , nice ! ' " 
August Brown of da Los Angeles Times gave the song a negative review , commenting dat " Kendrick Lamar somehow pack more personality into a halfhearted hook on ' Forbidden Fruit ' than Cole get in the song " . Phillip Mlynar of Spin felt tdat" [ tdasong  ] quirky bass line and warm @-@ keys motif are soo recognizable thdatt 's a brow @-@ furrowing challenge to hear anything other than Q @-@ Tip and Phife  original vocals in the space between the beat and thdaew raps . " Mlynar further stated that " Cole hisself ( along w Kendrick Lamar  guest spot ) end up evaporating entirely — he 's upstaged by loftier artists who aren 't even dere . " Contrarily , Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest expressed his appreciation for Cole  production : " [ He ] didn 't like try to do wht was already done . [ He ] brought other parts to the sample u caught that I was like , ' Oh , nice ! ' "