But Drake doesn't care if you don't replay the full album. But that's just one way to listen to an album - and it's clearly not the way Drake would prefer us to judge his discography.Ī lot of music traditionalists would argue that you can't judge an album by cherry-picking its highlights. It would be fair to assume most people don't commit to a front-to-back listen of "Scorpion." At one hour and 30 minutes, it's his longest project to date. Obviously, "Scorpion" is more sprawling than cohesive, and there were some songs that he could've left on the cutting floor.īut as Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield notes, "with this guy, way too much is the point." Much of the criticism of "Scorpion" is based on his inability to refine a tracklist. "Scorpion" was released on June 29, 2018. Drake's music offers us plenty to argue about, but numbers don't lie. It spent more than 100 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart it's one of the biggest hip-hop albums of all time. But for all the ways critics claimed that "Views" was a flop, everyone has sure streamed the hell out of it. Drake's purist rap fans have "Hype" and "Still Here." His "Marvin's Room" die-hards got a new crying-in-the-club anthem with "Feel No Ways." And all music listeners should be thankful for the album's string of undeniable bops: "Hotline Bling," "One Dance," "Pop Style," and "Controlla." In short, "Views" holds up.Īll these years later, it remains Drake's most divisive project. The 80-minute tracklist has something for everyone. He spends the entire album "reveling in all his absurdist, quippy glory," as The Ringer's Virali Dave wrote - and that's exactly what we love him for. When 21 Savage arrived to deliver closing statements on "Jimmy Cooks," I didn't quite feel ready to leave the club.īack in 2016, many fans and critics found "Views" underwhelming, largely thanks to the feverish hype that led up to its release.īut in retrospect, it may be the best representation of Drake as we know him now: the eclectic, confident, irritated, unabashedly corny, taste-making icon. Luckily, highlights like "Sticky" and "Overdrive" serve to pull the listener back into their body. I can easily picture myself on a dance floor, mindlessly head-bobbing, the DJ's setlist blending together.
"Honestly, Nevermind" is so smooth that it runs the risk of passive vibing. One staff writer at Rolling Stone described this effect as "'More Life' on molly." Another popular tweet compared it to the groovy jellyfish music from "SpongeBob SquarePants." Both are compliments, and both are correct. This is an album for feral summer nights, dancing and sweating at Lot 45 in Bushwick.
There aren't any Drake-isms, quippy lyrics, or unfortunate outliers. Especially as a surprise drop, this makes for a fascinating change of pace. Indeed, "Honestly, Nevermind" is remarkably cohesive, a focused package of tropical beats and atmospheric production. Secondly, with 14 songs spanning just 52 minutes, this is Drake's shortest album since "What a Time To Be Alive." After the absolute slog of "Certified Lover Boy," the world deserves that. This weakened the risk of New Drake Hype eclipsing the album itself, which several of its predecessors fell victim to. I was primed to enjoy "Honestly, Nevermind," partly because its release was announced mere hours in advance. "Honestly, Nevermind" was released on June 17, 2022. Save for "Know Yourself" and perhaps "Jungle," it lacks that intimate translation of memories and emotions that make people feel connected to Drake the artist, rather than Drake the brand. "If You're Reading This," by contrast, is uncharacteristically and unceasingly paranoid, aggressive, and single-minded. I mean, this is a man who actually said, "Got so many chains, I feel like chain-ing Tatum."ĭrake can deliver bars, to be sure, but he's at his best when he blends those bars with moody R&B, decadent production, and melodic vocals - when he blends his narcissism with his jealousy, longing, melancholy, and regret, confronting many moods in a way that feels universal. It sees him at his most forceful and certainly his most boastful, rapping over minimal beats and industrial sounds for 17 straight songs.īut Drake didn't become Drake because he's a great rapper. "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" was released on February 13, 2015.įor those who worship Drake as a rapper, rather than a pop star, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" is the holy grail.