 August Brown of the Los Angeles Times gave the song a negative review , commenting that " Kendrick Lamar somehow packs more personality into a <unk> hook on ' Forbidden Fruit ' than Cole gets in the song " . Phillip <unk> of Spin felt that " [ the song 's ] quirky bass line and warm @-@ keys motif are so recognizable that it 's a brow @-@ <unk> challenge to hear anything other than Q @-@ <unk> and <unk> 's original vocals in the space between the beat and the new raps . " <unk> further stated that " Cole himself ( along with Kendrick Lamar 's guest spot ) ends up <unk> entirely — he 's upstaged by <unk> artists who aren 't even there . " <unk> , Ali <unk> 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 ! ' " 
