Drake has had an exceptional career in the rap business, first starting in 2006 when he released his mixtape, Room for Improvement. However, his last two albums, Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss have left fans wondering if he really has been improving. Personally, I am a fan of Drake’s normal voice that he uses while rapping in songs like “Started from the Bottom” and “God’s Plan” instead of his weird and off-beat singing voice. Of course, change is great and it has its place in songs like “One Dance,” but ultimately it does not work with his flow and the beats he uses.
My honest opinion of the album follows:
“Virginia Beach” – Not good. That is all. I’m not even sure why he made this song as the introduction to his album. I despise the way Drake says “Lean into me, lean into me” and “Fanta, fantasizin.”
“Amen (feat. Teezo Touchdown)” – I really liked Teezo Touchdown’s ad-libs and his voice in general. Everything else is mediocre.
“Calling For You (feat. 21 Savage)” – I was a fan of it at first, until Drake changed his voice pitch and started singing. It remained bad until the beat swapped and 21’s verse started. 21 is very clever with his lyrics and caused me to shake my head in unison with what he was saying.
“Fear of Heights” – Good. The beginning had me hooked because Drake was speaking very softly, but still laying down a nice structure. Then he messed it all up by saying “let me go.” The chorus doesn’t sound very pleasant, luckily he only says it twice.
“Daylight” – Good, but nothing to write home about. Loved the way Drake said “WHAT!”
“First Person Shooter (feat. J. Cole)” – Huge fan of Cole’s verse. Great bars and rhymes that match the beat they were rapping on. Drake comes back with a stellar verse from the beat switch roughly in the middle of the song. The only issue is Drake yaps on and on about NOTHING. But it sounds good so it’s okay.
“IDGAF (feat. Yeat)” – Yeat comes out of nowhere at the start of the song, then repeats the same five lines over and over again. Drake sounds very happy to be there.
“7969 Santa” – Drake samples Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like” and sounds like he absolutely does NOT want to be there. Randomly, he starts using autotune and it sounds awful. After he says “aye,” it doesn’t pick up. Around the end, Teezo Touchdown (I think) comes out and starts on about nothing (second time this album). Then Snoop Dogg shows up and starts talking like a radio host. I hated this song.
“Slime You Out (feat. SZA)” – This song is about an ex-lover. I think it has a good beat and sounds pretty nice to the ears. However, there are some lines that are very out of pocket and should not be there. Drake sounds like all the memes in the beginning and then starts using auto-tune again and thinks he’s Adele. (It doesn’t sound bad though). Then SZA shows up and her voice sounds tremendous. The only issue I have with this song is just how out of pocket and out of line some of the lyrics are.
“Bahamas Promises” – I love this song. I believe it’s one of the best songs on this album, but you could make an argument about it being the best. Has amazing Teezo Touchdown ad-libs, but does not overdo it so they have actual meaning. Drake surprisingly sounds melodic this time and his voice works with the beat. Also gave birth to my favorite lyric of all time, “broken pinky promises.”
“Tried Our Best” – Not a bad song at all and I wouldn’t mind listening to it again, but I personally wouldn’t put it on my playlist. Has a good meaning by tackling the issues of love and how love isn’t always a straight, perfect path.
“Screw The World” – A nice interlude. I have nothing to criticize about it except how it doesn’t even include Drake singing.
“Drew A Picasso” – Didn’t like it. I had high hopes for it due to the name but was disappointed. Drake was going on about a whole lot of nothing. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like it had no meaning behind it. The title “Drew A Picasso” sounds really cool, but it does not match the song at all. Then again, I don’t know what could match it except “Track Where I Talk About Zero Important Things.”
“Members Only (feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR)” – I’m a fan of PARTYNEXTDOOR’s part. His voice really is immaculate and majestic. Drake sounds like typical Drake.
“What Would Pluto Do” – I was taken by surprise to the point where I yelled after hearing the beginning of this song. “What Would Pluto Do” starts very quickly. I thought it was a beat switch from “Members Only.” The piano adds flare to this flareless album. After listening to this song, I had an epiphany; Drake is an amazing rapper and should ONLY use his singing voice during certain intervals of his song (which is what he did). Definitely a 10/10 and the best song on this album
“All The Parties (feat. Chief Keef)” – Not bad at all. I’m not a fan of Chief Keef’s voice, but he really did pull through by not having a bad feature verse. I wouldn’t listen to it again though simply because I’m not a fan of Chief Keef.
“8am in Charlotte” – Old Drake is back baby! Amazing beat and I love the chorus kids in the background as well as the piano; It really does compliment Drake’s very monotone voice. The entire basis of the song is about Drake being the G.O.A.T and how he got there not by chance, but by choice. It gives a deep dive into Drake’s life, but not really in a storytelling way like J. Cole usually does. The song gives more of a Kendrick Lamar vibe in which the listener has to piece together the story. Definitely going on the playlist and on the aux cord.
“BBL Love – Interlude” – I hate everything about it. The lyrics, Drake’s voice, the title. It was so horrible that I paused the song after the first five words and had to gather all my thoughts again. Please Drake, do not sing for an entire song if the lyrics are vulgar.
“Gently (feat. Bad Bunny)” – I was very excited for this song because Drake and Bad Bunny worked together in creating “MIA.” My expectations were shot down immediately. There are three different beats in this song. In the beginning, Drake starts speaking atrocious Spanglish. After listening to that torturous 40 seconds, a new beat emerges and Drake still sounds bad. Something good that came out of this song is how good Bad Bunny’s part is. It’s not his best work, but I could say it is very catchy. Drake transitioned to the feature in my opinion.
“Rich Baby Daddy (feat. Sexxy Red & SZA)” – Sexxy Red can’t keep getting away with this. I don’t necessarily dislike Sexxy Red, but she’s just not good while on the mic: trash lyrics, unpleasant flow, and unacceptable behavior. It’s bad too because she takes up more than half the song (the song is five minutes and 19 seconds) and SZA only gets roughly 25 seconds to sing. It’s such a shame because a superb beat landed at Drake’s feet and it was practically ruined by Sexxy Red. 1/10 only because SZA was on it.
“Another Late Night (feat. Lil Yachty)” – It wasn’t bad, but I would not listen to it again. You can clearly tell Lil Yachty made the beat which is good because he makes good ones. Maybe it’s just me, but I have a personal pet peeve on high amounts of autotune unless it’s melodic. As for the lyrics, they are typical Drake and Lil Boat in which they are smart with rhymes, but that’s it.
“Away From Home” – It was so indifferent from the other songs that I started to doze off. “Away From Home” is the textbook definition of a rap song where the beat would match to the punchline of the bar; the main purpose is to talk about determination and stress and make clever lines to try and grab the listener’s attention.
“Polar Opposites” – I’ll admit it, I was very hype and held high expectations because not only is it the last song of the album, but the name “Polar Opposites” grabbed my attention. But much like “Gently,” my expectations were dragged into the dirt. I seriously slouched in my chair after he sang “Tweakin’ on Vacation with me.” The only good thing to come out of this song is the woman singing “I adore you” because of how good she sounded; it was a random woman with a great voice number 4.
After listening to this album, I can say Drake failed to deliver once again. An album that could have ended Drake’s 0-2 record simply ended in flames with horrible features, dreadful lyrics, and copy-and-pasted beats. Of course, there were good songs on this album, like “8am in Charlotte” and “What would Pluto Do,” but having a 23 track album and only making four songs I would listen to again isn’t the greatest. Therefore, I would sadly have to rate this album a 2 out of 5 stars.
