Any new-wave rap fan is familiar with Drake. We know about his worst behaviors and his best memes, but his recent mixtape dropped February 12th, 2015 left this fan feeling some type of way. First of all, it came as a complete surprise until it popped up on my Spotify “artists to watch” feed. Second of all… I’m not sure whether to call it a surprise at all. He literally warned us in 0 to 100 that they “already got spring 2015 poppin’… not to mention me dropping.” We should have seen it coming, what with his cryptic social media hints and the drop being essentially on the anniversary of his rap game conquering So Far Gone mixtape.
As for the album as a whole…
Well, let’s start off with the opening piece, “Legend.” This song caught me off guard and not in a good way. It was definitely a different animal than what I’m used to with Drake. He almost trod into a Ke$ha-esque “sing-talking” rhythm—and that’s a dangerous place to be. I wasn’t sure whether it was the beat or something else, but this song wasn’t really my favorite.
His following four songs fall back into his usual bad behavior and judging by their spot at the top of the most popular lists—fans appreciate this. I personally appreciated the stylistic returns to his prior successes—like the unaccompanied voice over in “Know Yourself” running into a strong beat. It completely reminded me of “Look What You’ve Done” and “Marvin’s Room,” two of my favorite songs from the Take Care album. Similarly, I loved the Lil Wayne voiceover in “*67.” It was like a secret feature; you could practically hear Lil Wayne going in through Drake—but you aren’t actually satisfied until he DOES go in on the “Used To” track. I was surprised Nicki Minaj did not make an appearance on this album, but to be fair they’ve been collaborating a lot recently.
The Drake Lean feat. Dance Dance Revolution
The track entitled “Madonna” brought back the unusual sounds exclusive to this mixtape we saw in Legend. Although it was smoother than Legend, I’m not sure if he fell off a little on this one. The beat is more asymmetrical, which is technically an example of good artistry, but aurally… not as appealing as you might imagine. However, I feel he redeems the shortcomings with solid lyrics and sound flow.
The next few songs featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR are interesting. For “Preach,” I wasn’t sure if I was listening to a feature by the Weeknd, but my confusion was definitely clarified by the “Wednesday Night Interlude” that this was no Weeknd feature. I appreciated this digression from his normal work because it allowed for new influences to breathe life into his music—which is a more aurally appealing form of musical experimentation in my opinion.
Personally, I loved the tracks “You & the 6,” “Jungle,” and “Company.” They reminded me of the best sides of Drake. From the honest-to-a-fault flow and his admittances of his not-so-hood upbringing in “You & the 6” to his soulful R&B in “Jungle” and back to the more recently familiar cockiness from “Only” and “0 to 100” in “Company,” I was not disappointed.
The real highlights for me as someone who grew up with Drake from his So Far Gone days are his stylistic continuities and talent with creating a coherent album that balances aggressive rap with moody ballads. I am a fan of Drake for his referrals not only to his past but his future. Although I wasn’t exactly crazy about his branching out through “Legend” and “Madonna,” I appreciate his experimenting as an artist and feel he did so more appealingly in “Preach” and “Wednesday Night Interlude.”
Drake’s new mixtape did surprise us, but overall it did not disappoint us. So I guess I’ll just have to listen a little more carefully to this mixtape for clues as to this artist’s next moves.