Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR – “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” review

Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake taking a break from his ongoing lawsuit against Republic Records’ parent company Universal Music Group for the 5-time Grammy winning Kendrick Lamar single “Not Like Us” spreading a “false & malicious narrative” when he was actually getting destroyed in a rap beef to do a collaborative LP with local singer/songwriter, rapper & producer PARTYNEXTDOOR in time for Valentine’s Day. One of whom is a pop rap star getting his start as an actor before becoming a Lil Wayne protégé signing to Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records over 15 years ago & the other was the very first artist OVO Sound ever signed. Take Care & If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late will always stand as Drake’s best full-length studio album & mixtape respectively with PND’s strongest material to me being his eponymous debut EP & the sequel debut album PARTYNEXTDOOR 2. The idea of $ome $exy $ongs 4 U doesn’t sound too far off since we’ve heard these 2 together on plenty of songs in the past like “Over Here” & “Preach”, it’s that Sony Music will notably be putting it out since I want to clarify for those confused that OVO as a label signed a new distribution deal with Sony last year & Drake has been on Republic as a solo artist since his YMCMB days seemingly trying to get out of his deal with everything going on.

“CN Tower” produced by Noel Cadastre expresses their feelings for their significant others through the colors of Toronto’s most popular tourist attraction over a moody instrumental shares concerns about their lovers’ thoughts whereas “Moth Balls” feels more like a Drake song with PND on the hook talking about being unable to get the smell outta their clothes. “$omething About You” psychedelically finds the 2 thinkin’ of lovin’ their partners all the way like nothin’ is holdin’ them back that is until the 2-parter “Crying in Chanel” stands as first of 6 Drake solo cuts feeling like an Honestly, Nevermind outtake.

PARTYNEXTDOOR links up with his mentor again on “$pider-Man $uperman” telling the women in their lives to admit that they wish both artists could save them over some guitar like while the only PND solo joint “Deeper” tells his girl to chill because he feels like he hasn’t been loving her properly rather get it right than wrong tonight. Drake pops back in for the woozy “Small Town Fame” talking about his girl having a brat summer & “Pimmie’s Dilemma” by Pim serves more as an acoustic interlude.

“Brian Steel” by Drake takes the trap route instrumentally publicly thanking YSL Records founder Young Thug’s lawyer of the same name for helping Big Slime come home last Halloween after the ridiculous R.I.C.O. case just before “Gimme a Hug” is another Drake solo cut reuniting with Gordo behind the boards responding to Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West saying that Kendrick eliminated in him in their beef when he really did & the questionable line “Fuck all rap beef, I’m trying to get the party lit. Trying to get the party lit for the bitches”. He even references the inaugural IWGPヘビー級王座, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer & Real American Beer founder Hulk Hogan.

The penultimate & 3rd consecutive Drake solo joint “Raining in Houston” gets on the 2-parter vibes once more a bit talking about chilling with the guys on a Friday evening & arguing on a rainy day in H-Town itself while “Lasers” marks the return of PARTYNEXTDOOR singing about staring at their lovers’ tattoos during intercourse. “Meet Your Padre” horrifically shows a bit of a Latin influence drinking like it’s Friday on a Sunday & the final Drake solo cut “Nokia” easily sticks out as the most hideous of the 6, later becoming the official theme song of the WWE’s inaugural ESPN pay-per-view Wrestlepalooza V.

Jordan Ullman of Majid Jordan saves one of the more interesting beats for “Die Trying” has even if it feels like another Drake song with PND on the hook unable to decide if he should stay or leave with the woman he has in mind specifically while “Somebody Loves Me” featuring Cash Cobain on the remix sings about turning up in Miami knowing their special someone is out there. “Celibacy” is pretty much an R&B equivalent to “Life is Good” by Future which Drake is featured on while “OMW” works in synths & hi-hats getting calls from the condo to pick their partners up.

The song “Glorious” again feels like another Drake track featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR on the hook to kick off the encore of $ome $exy $ongs 4 U telling this woman to fuck him like she really means it while “When He’s Gone” that Internet Money Records in-house producer Niketaz laced finds the 2 hitting on women who’ve recently broken up with their previous boyfriends wanting them to call them once their exes leave. “Greedy” rounds out the collab project we should’ve gotten a decade ago with them talking about being gluttonous for love.

Don’t wanna come off as biased here because I still tend to enjoy Drake’s music from 2007-2015 & even For All the Dogs although “First Person Shooter” hasn’t really aged well. Point is: “euphoria” as an attack on Drake’s authenticity & personal image even naming itself after the Warner Bros. owned HBO show that Drake is the executive producer of currently preparing for their 3rd & final season has been proven to be the case considering John River claiming that the artwork concept was stolen from him & Bootleg Kev confirming the $ome $exy $ongs 4 U title was taken from Freddie Gibbs’ final Warner Records album $oul $old $eparately not to say that’s why I’m not a fan of the music on here. Feels dated.

Score: 2/5

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Drake – “For All the Dogs” review

This is the 8th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until the Her Loss collab album with 21 Savage easily became the best thing he’s done in 8 years & that’s a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. So considering that, I went into For All the Dogs expecting something interesting. Especially since he said he was going to throw it back to his roots musically.

“Virginia Beach” begins it all with 40 sampling “Wiseman” by Frank Ocean accompanied by some hi-hats dedicating this to everyone from the titular city in Virginia whereas “Amen” featuring Teezo Touchdown is a piano/trap hybrid that Budgie hooked up with both of them talking about gratefulness. “Calling You” with an underwhelming 21 Savage feature & co-production from Cash Cobain starts off by layering an electro loop over hi-hats until a soulful switch-up needing to be held until the inevitable, but then the synth-laced “Fear of Heights” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying, Pooh Beatz & xynothing makes various references to travelling abroad.

Meanwhile, “Daylight” with Adonis goes for a shimmery trap vibe courtesy of Southside & Smatt Sertified talking about shooting them in broad day leading into “First Person Shooter” starting off with a slowed down sample prior to a heavenly beat switch with co-production from Boi-1da, FNZ, Tay Keith & Vinylz comparing this to the Super Bowl as J. Cole delivers one of the best features on the LP making this the first time the 6 God & the King of Dreamville have crossed paths in about a decade. Yeat’s verse on “IDGAF” has to be another standout guest appearance as he & Drizzy join forces over a rage beat talking about their nonchalant-like personalities.

“7969 Santa” primarily has a woozier vibe to it instrumentally referencing a Delilah restaurant located out in Santa Monica Boulevard looking to get someone off his mind while “Slime You Out” featuring SZA is a disappointingly mediocre alternative R&B duet basically saying they slimin’ each other for them kid choices they made as corny as it sounds. After the superiorly chilled out R&B-inflicted “Bahamas Promises” reflecting on a troubled relationship, the wavy “Tried Our Best” talks about treating this woman right & has been growing on me over the last couple months that is until the mid atmospheric trap 2-parter “Drew a Picasso” right after another interlude “Screw the World” paying homage to DJ Screw telling this chick she ain’t gon’ find no one better & possibly making it work again.

PARTYNEXTDOOR’s chemistry with his mentor shown on the minimally moody “Members Only” is pretty tight saying these bitches are too down with the gangy even though lines like “Feel like I’m bi ’cause you’re one of the guys, girl” are total cringe while “What Would Pluto Do?” subliminally disses Future over a piano/trap beat. “All the Parties” is an airy 2-parter with reflecting on his success, distance from others in the music industry & paints a vivid image of his fortune & close-knit crew until Conductor Williams gives “8am in Charlotte” a dustier edge rapping his ass off for 4 & a half minutes. I seriously don’t even care about the supposed Ye diss either.

“BBL Love” strips the drums completely tackily comparing love to a Brazilian Butt Lift in the sense that “you won’t know if it’s real until you feel one” making it the worst song on the album ironically right after the best while “Gently” featuring Bad Bunny goes into Latin trap turf with the help of Gordo talking about living like The Sopranos from the Warner Bros.-owned HBO which is one of my top 3 shows of all-time behind Better Call Saul & Breaking Bad on amc respectively. However, I don’t see myself listening to it ever again. “Rich Baby Daddy” featuring Sexyy Red mixes elements of Jersey Club with trap providing a decent anthem for the strip clubs while “Another Late Night” featuring Lil Yachty picks up the pace fusing pop rap & rage chilling with women during the evening & Drake fuckin’ FINALLY addressing the rumors about him with Millie Bobby Brown.

As we continue to the encore of the album, the penultimate track “Away from Home” confesses that it doesn’t feel like a home to him anymore more rather just simply wall, doors & floors that only he can afford & lastly “Polar Opposites” ties up this 23 song album clocking in at 85 minutes in the form of an average spacey slow jam singing about how immature it is for Mariana to block him on everything in an unprovoked manner without exactly knowing why whatsoever. As he had legitimately plans to understand her a bit more, but obviously that’s not going to happen anymore because she broke his faith.

Now the Scary Hours deluxe version of this album contains 6 new bonus cuts & I’ll go over them right now. “Red Button” produced by ovrkast. & Lil Yachty starts off the deluxe run shouting out Taylor Swift, mentioning his truce with Kanye West & promising to find out wherever his opposition is celebratin’ to see who really crazy & after “Stories About My Brother” goes into jazzy boom bap territory with the help of Conductor calling this “the storm before the calm, we’ll get to the vacation later” including a Joe Budden diss, “The Shoe Fits” works in a woodwind addressing the ladies wonderin’ why Drake can’t rap like the same old guy answering he doesn’t know how anymore.

“Wick Man” has to be my favorite bonus track of the 6-pack comparing himself to John Wick & starting off by taking a laughable jab at Pusha T calling him “broke” over a reversed loop from one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist that’s later made up with a reference to 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena while “Evil Ways” featuring J. Cole displays a back & forth chemistry between the 2 with a soulful trap sound this time. Finally, the last bonus cut “You Broke My Heart” is easily the most melodic of the bunch singing over pianos about a woman who broke his heart.

Look: I haven’t enjoyed a Drake project consistently in 8 years up to this point, but I’ll always give him his credit where it’s due because his place in hip hop has been cemented by the impact he’s had on it & the music industry at large. With all of that being said: I genuinely think For All the Dogs is a step in the right direction for him compared to his last couple albums Certified Lover Boy & Honestly, Nevermind. Easily his most consistent solo effort since If You’re Reading This in my respectful opinion. He mainly returns to his trappy pop rap roots also dabbling with trap soul, chipmunk soul, contemporary R&B & even Latin music in the process with slightly more hits & than misses.

Score: 3.5/5

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Drake & 21 Savage – “Her Loss” review

This is a brand new collaborative album between Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & businessman Drake along with London, England, United Kingdom born albeit Atlanta, Georgia raised rapper, songwriter & producer 21 Savage. One is an pop rap icon starting out as an actor before becoming a Lil Wayne protege in the late-2000s & the other beginning to turn heads in the Atlanta trap scene after landing a spot in the iconic 2016 XXL Freshman Class. Their paths have crossed a handful of times within the last 5 years with bangers like “Mr. Right Now” & even “Knife Talk”. Last we heard from them was when Drizzy dropped the mediocre house album Honestly, Nevermind this past summer in the form of the standout closer “Jimmy Cooks” & are now joining forces to drop Her Loss.

“Rich Flex” kicks off the album with some braggadocio on top of an instrumental from Tay Keith, BoogzDaBeast, FNZ & Vinylz with some hi-hats & angelic vocals during 21’s verse prior to the sample switching into some keys for Drake’s whereas “Major Distribution” embraces the piano trap sound even further talking about going stupid. “On BS” has a cloudier vibe to it comparing their partners to WWE Hall of Famer as well as 4-time WWE Women’s Champion & former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Lita, but then “BackOutsideBoyz” comes through with the first of 4 Drake solo cuts on the album & my personal favorite talking about the 6 God coming back over a synth-trap beat produced by Rio Leyva alongside Taz Taylor & Dez Wright of Internet Money Records.

Meanwhile on “Privileged Rappers”, we have Drizzy & 21 expressing their desire to fuck bitches in banks accompanied by a cloudy trap instrumental from 40 & Earl on the Beat leading into “Spin ‘Bout U” flipping an R&B joint talking about coming out of their bodies for their significant other. “Hours in Silence” has a more moodier sound to it seeking to turn their bitches up just before the syrupy “Treacherous Twins” laced with the help of Boi-1da paying tribute to their soulmates & the line about 21 not showing an ID at the club because they know he’s 21 is incredibly witty.

“Circo Loco” obnoxiously samples the Daft Punk jam “1 More Time” to get boastful with Drizzy even confessing that he did the Free Larry Hoover concert with Kanye West last winter solely for J. Prince’s sake only for Travis Scott to come into the picture for the pillowy “Pussy & Millions” encouraging to bring on the cons of having more money. “Broke Boys” is well-structured 2-parter featuring co-production from Wheezy taunting all the bum ass motherfuckers out there while the 2nd Drizzy solo joint “Middle of the Ocean” dives into boom bap turf talking about how he’s been a player.

As for “Jumbotron Shit Poppin’”: I really like the beat that F1LTHY & his brother Oogie Mane of Working on Dying & Cubeatz whip up along with the subject matter asking if anyone really want smoke with Drake, but the fact that he called himself “a real vamp” like he thinks he’s Playboi Carti when he’s actually a decade older than me during his verse is fucking embarrassing. The song “More M’s” has to be my favorite on the album from the dark Metro Boomin’ production to the lyrics talking about making more paper than taking Ls while “3AM on Glenwood” is the only 21 Savage solo track on Her Loss for some reason although it doesn’t disappoint with it’s wavy instrumental & bars like the Steph Curry/Stephon Marbury one or the one where he hollers at the hobbit to help get his brother out of jail. “I Guess It’s Fuck Me” though ends it all with a Drake solo cut on top of a bare piano calling out a woman who left him abruptly.

It’s definitely not on the same caliber as Without Warning or even What a Time to Be Alive, but both these guys managed to give us a decent collab effort here & one that’s slightly better Honestly, Nevermind. Their chemistry is certainly strong enough to carry a whole project, but the production throughout is just very mild & Drake has more presence throughout than 21 does.

Score: 3/5

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Drake – “Honestly, Nevermind” review

Drake is a 35 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who skyrocketed to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone. The success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. However to celebrate his new SiriusXM radio show, Drizzy is surprise-dropping his 7th album.

After the intro, “Falling Back” opens up the album by going full-blown afrobeats with Drake singing about giving his all into a relationship whereas “Texts Go Green” is a more mellower cut produced by the album’s executive producer Black Coffee as he details him moving on from an ex. “Currents” pulls from Jersey club music with a distracting squeaking sound throughout talking about how he feels like he’s tumbling & doing a shitty Abel impression on the hook, but then “A Keeper” asks his old muse why he’d have her stick around over an airy instrumental.

Meanwhile on “Calling My Name”, we have Drizzy returning to dance-pop turf thanks to Gordo asking why it’s hard for him to give this bitch up just before “Sticky” comes through as the best track off the album with the lyrics about knowing tough situations can be & how the drums just hit you in the chest. “Massive” embraces a housier sound singing to his lover about finding them again, but then “Flight’s Booked” incorporates some synths to singing for his chick not to make him wait.

“Overdrive” has a funky ass groove to it with a fresh guitar solo at the end that I both really like admitting that his heart’s racing while “Down Hill” tells his bitch that they’re done & the 40 instrumental has an intriguingly wavy flare of the beat as well as the finger-snaps. The song “Tie That Blinds” throws a nylon guitar in with some prominent drums confessing that he never wants to see his lover leave while the penultimate track “Liability” slathers his vocals in chopped & screwed effects singing about changing for this woman with the hi-hats being mixed louder than the synths. “Jimmy Cooks” with 21 Savage ends the album with a fun 2-parter produced by Vinylz, Tay Keith & Cubeatz describing them throwing a party for their Day 1s remembering Lil Keed & warning this ain’t the Endeavor Group Holdings-owned UFC.

I’ve noticed the reception for this has been very polarizing but for it to be a homage to the late Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, I’m honestly on the fence with it. I respect that Drake put his signature pop rap sound in the back-burner in comparison to Certified Lover Boy not elevating it any further so he can mix house & alternative R&B with afrobeats, but the results are extremely hit or miss.

Score: 2.5/5

Drake – “Certified Lover Boy” review

This is the 6th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake. Skyrocketing in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & helped put out the man’s full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before & Dark Lane Demo Tapes was a failed attempt at experimenting with new songs. However, I was curious going into Certified Lover Boy given the 4 singles that he dropped leading up to it.

“Champagne Poetry” is a top tier Drake opener, rapping his ass off over a chipmunk soul sample & a gospel flip from 40. The next song “Papi’s Home” is basically his version of Montell Jordan’s “Daddy’s Home” proclaiming himself as a top dog whereas “Girls Want Girls” with Lil Baby will go down as one of the worst Drake songs ever, them asking “You a lesbian? Me too”. Then we got Lil Durk tagging along for “In the Bible” as they try to hit on religious women just before Drake & JAY-Z spaciously calling out those who turned their backs on them on “Love All”.

Meanwhile with “Fair Trade”, both Drizzy & Travis Scott jump on top of a Charlotte Day Wilson sample from WondaGurl talking about losin’ friends & findin’ peace leading into him making his own version of “I’m Too Sexy” with Future & Young Thug on “Way 2 Sexy” for whatever reason produced by TM88 shockingly. “TSU” is a simp anthem telling a stripper to get her life together sampling *NSYNC & R. Kelly, but then “N 2 Deep” with Future is more of a great sequel to “Life is Good”.

The vocal sample from Leon Thomas III on “Pipe Down” is hypnotic with Drake telling a bitch to chill out & after the “Yebba’s Heartbreak” interlude, “No Friends in the Industry” bitterly disses G.O.O.D. Music & for some reason Kendrick. I dig how he & 21 Savage flipped Project Pat for the gangsta rap-themed “Knife Talk” produced by Metro Boomin’, but then “7AM on Bridle Path” takes a moodier route with the help of Cardo dissing Kanye once again.

“Race My Mind” is an R&B/hip hop fusion detailing his lover being drunk as fuck, but the Tems-duet “Fountains” has a catchy instrumental despite the songwriting being below average. “Get Along Better” has a luxurious trap beat from 1985 addressing an ex, but then “You Only Live Twice” with Lil Wayne & Rick Ross is an amazing sequel to “The Motto” laced by B!nk of all people.

The song “I.M.Y.2. (I Missed You 2)” with KiD CuDi has a pillowy sound asking how they’re supposed to move while the penultimate track “Fucking Fans” takes a cloudier turn with the help of PARTYNEXTDOOR looking back on his failures. “The Remorse” ends the album by showing love to the people over at his OVO Sound label & asking not to Google his net worth.

As much as I enjoyed “Laugh Now Cry Later” & Scary Hours 2, this album as a whole was NOT worth the hype & I was very disappointed by the outcome of it. Not just because it didn’t need to be an hour & a half long, but he’s really not saying anything new here at all. By that I’m not saying he needs to get political or conscious, that’s NEVER been him. Just feels like we’ve all heard this from him before.

Score: 2/5

Drake – “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” review

Drake is a 33 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who blew up in 2009 with his breakout mixtape So Far Gone. The success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment & Cash Money Records, who put out the man’s full-length debut Thank Me Later the following year. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic & then his Young Money/Cash Money swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing the hip hop & R&B sides of his music respectively. He managed to put out a decent collection of loosies last summer called Care Package & with his 6th full-length album coming this summer, we’re getting a prelude mixtape outta nowhere.

Things start off with “Deep Pockets”, where Drake talks about how his crew is rollin’ now over a trippy instrumental from 40 & Plain Pat. The next song “When to Say When” charismatically brags over a Bobby Glenn sample while the “Chicago Freestyle” asks a woman to meet him by The Bean over an ethereal beat. The track “Not You Too” with Chris Brown talks about being backstabbed over a cavernous instrumental that later switches into something more synth-heavy about halfway through while the song “Toosie Slide” is a trite & annoying TikTok anthem.

The track “Desires” with Future sees the 2 talking about women over a generically cloudy beat & even though the lyrics on “Time Flies” don’t sit well with me personally, the instrumental is just impeccably alluring. “Landed” finds Drizzy flexing as Cardo backs him up with what could possibly be my favorite instrumental on the entire project while the song “D4L” with Future & Young Thug is pretty much a dedication to all 3 of the artists’ respectively self-owned record labels OVO Sound, Freebandz Entertainment & YSL Records backed with an aggressive Southside beat.

The track “Pain 1993” with Playboi Carti sees the 2 getting materialistic over some signature Pi’erre Bourne production while the song “Losses” talks about losing this woman to the game over a more smooth instrumental. “From Florida with Love” asks this chick if she really has love for him over an intoxicating MexikoDro beat while the song “Demons” gets with Fivio Foreign & Sosa Geek for some surface level shit-talking, but I love the angelic vocals in the background. The closer “War” then goes full-on UK Drill & it’s just unbelievably awful.

Pretty boring overall & that really shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point. Granted it’s a lot shorter than More Life & Scorpion as it only runs at 50 minutes but the instrumentals are mediocre, the songwriting is & the guest are either hit or miss. The album can’t be worse though.

Score: 2/5

Drake – “Scorpion” review

In the midst of his beef with Pusha T late last month, Toronto, Ontario, Canada superstar Drake is giving fans his long-awaited 5th full-length album. Interestingly too, it consists of 2 discs & 25 tracks in total: first disc is all hip hop songs & the other is all R&B songs.

The opener “Survival” is a reflection of his career over a killer Lil B sample from No I.D. & 40 while the next song “Nonstop” talks about his grind over some prominent bass. The track “Elevate” talks about becoming famous & making life better for him & his loved ones over some atmospheric background vocals while the song “Emotionless” is a response to Pusha T’s nasty “Story of Adidon” diss track from last month. He’s not dissing him, but he does confirm that he has a son named Adonis over this trap beat with a beautiful soul sample. However the one line where he says “I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world, I was hidin’ the world from my kid” made me chuckle a little bit. I mean it’s no question that the media would’ve been all over the baby if his birth was announced prior, but I kinda laughed because of the fact that the mother Sophie Brussaux went on Twitter last fall & dissed him. The track “God’s Plan” is just as fun as it was on his Scary Hours EP from earlier this year while “I’m Upset” is one of his worst singles & I don’t blame Oogie Mane of Working on Dying for that.

The track “8/10” talks about where he’s at now referencing the current UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway over an uplifting boom bap beat from Boi-1da while the song “Mob Ties” talks about cutting people off over a bouncy beat. The track “Can’t Take a Joke” is about hanging out with the titular people in Hidden Hills & Italy over a murky beat. The song “Sandra’s Rose” talks about how his life has changed since being in the music industry over a beautiful DJ Premier beat & the track “Take Up” sees him talking about childhood over a grimy DJ Paul beat with JAY-Z’s verse kinda reminds me of his mafioso days. I also love how he ends the song by saying “I got your president tweetin’, I won’t even meet with him. Y’all killed XXXTENTACION & let George Zimmerman live, streets is done”. The first disc then finishes off with fittingly with “Is There More?”, where Drake is asking questions about life over a moody beat.

The next disc starts off with “Peak”, where he sings to an unnamed love interest over a settle beat. The next track “Summer Games” talks about a breakup over a spacey instrumental that to me sounds like it would pop up on any KiD CuDi album while the song “Jaded” is a dedication to Jorja Smith over an atmospheric beat. The track “Nice for What” is an empowering women’s anthem over a Murda Beatz instrumental with a beautiful sample of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor”, but it feels like it should’ve been on the previous disc. The song “Finesse” is a message to his current significant other over another settle instrumental, but then “Ratchet Happy Birthday” might be the worst Drizzy track I’ve ever heard. I get that he wants this girl to have a good time on her birthday, but it’s just really corny. The instrumental is buttery as Hell, too.

The song “That’s How You Feel” talks about spending time with an unknown girl over another moody beat while the track “Blue Tint” is a response to all his haters but just like “Nice for What”, it sounds like it was made for the first disc. The song “In My Feelings” asks the City Girls if they love him, but it seems desperate & sappy. The track “Don’t Matter to Me” talks about his ex doing drugs & alcohol as a result of breaking up with him, but it actually works well thanks to the unreleased Michael Jackson vocals that’re evenly balanced.

The song “After Dark” with Ty$ sees the 2 talking about hooking up with women in the late night hours over a laidback instrumental from none other than Static Major & while the penultimate track “Final Fantasy” is probably the freakiest I’ve ever heard Aubrey get, but it’s the 3rd track on this R&B side feels like it should’ve been on the first disc. The album then finishes with “March 14”, which is a 4th misplaced rap song on the entire album. However it’s not bad, because I like how he goes more in-depth about Adonis over this moody boom bap beat

While this is definitely better than VIEWS & More Life, it’s still a mixed bag. He sounds a lot more passionate on here than he did on the last 2 projects I mentioned & I can definitely appreciate the A Side/B Side concept, but there are 4 tracks on the 2nd disc that really should’ve been on the first one & A LOT of filler. If you evenly took the best tracks from both discs & put them onto just 1, then it would’ve been pretty great.

Score: 2.5/5