By: Ryan Martin
Drake is arguably one of the biggest name in hip-hop right now, along the likes of J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West. When he announced that his new album, originally titled Views From The 6 was dropping in April, the entire music industry was on their toes for the duration of the month until we got a release date of April 29th. But let's be real, it wasn't worth the wait.
I wasn't a Drake fan whatsoever until he dropped If You're Reading This It's Too Late. That was his surprise mixtape to hold over his fans while he worked on his follow-up to 2013's Nothing Was The Same. IYRTITL changed my expectations about Drake and his music as it made trap-influenced bangers more mainstream and allowed for artists like Future to make a fortune off their Atlanta based bangers. The production was air tight from frequent collaborator Noah '40' Shebib and Drake produced some of his best music to date with hits like "Know Yourself", "Energy", and one of my personal favorites "Jungle". Then he followed this all up with the Meek Mill beef which spawned hit songs like "Back To Back" and "Charged Up". He ended the summer off with his biggest hits so far. The very meme-friendly smash hit "Hotline Bling" as well "Jumpman" off of his 10-track collaborative 'mixtape' with Future. Drake was riding fucking sky high off this success. He signed a deal with apple music, rolling in money and had all the time in the world to work on his next album. This is where he fucked up. Musically speaking.
Drake is arguably one of the biggest name in hip-hop right now, along the likes of J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West. When he announced that his new album, originally titled Views From The 6 was dropping in April, the entire music industry was on their toes for the duration of the month until we got a release date of April 29th. But let's be real, it wasn't worth the wait.
I wasn't a Drake fan whatsoever until he dropped If You're Reading This It's Too Late. That was his surprise mixtape to hold over his fans while he worked on his follow-up to 2013's Nothing Was The Same. IYRTITL changed my expectations about Drake and his music as it made trap-influenced bangers more mainstream and allowed for artists like Future to make a fortune off their Atlanta based bangers. The production was air tight from frequent collaborator Noah '40' Shebib and Drake produced some of his best music to date with hits like "Know Yourself", "Energy", and one of my personal favorites "Jungle". Then he followed this all up with the Meek Mill beef which spawned hit songs like "Back To Back" and "Charged Up". He ended the summer off with his biggest hits so far. The very meme-friendly smash hit "Hotline Bling" as well "Jumpman" off of his 10-track collaborative 'mixtape' with Future. Drake was riding fucking sky high off this success. He signed a deal with apple music, rolling in money and had all the time in the world to work on his next album. This is where he fucked up. Musically speaking.
Drake's new album did the numbers. There's no doubt about that. It'd be foolish to call it a flop, but it would also be foolish to call it a masterpiece. On Views, Drake returns to the same formula that got him his fame in the first place. He is crooning and singing about past flames and trust issues. As he allows himself to be vulnerable in his work, it could work by allowing him to become closer with his fans, or in this case, Toronto. But Drake doesn't need to do that now. Drake has the fan base, he has the money, what he doesn't have is the respect. Drake is largely viewed as an artist that people either love or hate. I know a lot more people that hate Drake rather than love him. With this new album, this was supposed to be the landmark that swayed everyone. Drake could have established himself as the king if he killed it with this album. But he didn't. The whole thing is very half-assed. 40's production isn't as tight, Drake's lyrics go from corny to cringe-worthy. And some of the album just reeks of him selling out. He even put 'Hotline Bling' on there as a bonus track. If that wasn't an attempt to boost sales, I don't know what is. I'm also still salty that "Summer Sixteen" didn't make the cut, which was one of the only factors that built hype around this album for me. He also released a song called "Pop Style" which was credited with features from both Kanye West and Jay-Z or 'The Throne' together. Jay-Z was in the song for probably 2 seconds and 'Ye actually had a dope verse but Drake cut it for the album which was another mistake on his part. The track itself is weak and Drake dropped it down in quality by removing one of the only good things about it. Drake also has some vibes on the album that sound reggae-inspired. To his hook on 'Controlla' to the biggest hit off the album, 'One Dance'. Drake has some hidden gems on Views, I will admit. One of my personal favorites has to be 'Weston Road Flows'. The Mary J. Blige sample on it is god-like.
There's tons of Drake songs that I actually enjoy. But there has never been an actual Drake album that I can enjoy start to finish. I was hoping that Views would be an exception, but it's not. Skimming through this album would probably do it justice as there isn't much more to this project than what lies at the surface. It's mainly Drake expressing his fame and his trust issues with some corny lyrics for flavor. It mainly sounds like a collection of songs that was just recorded and never released and then turned into an album. There's nothing cohesive about this project at all. I encourage you to lower your expectations and check out the new Drake album. IF you have time to kill.