Drake’s debut album has finally leaked/is finally out. Such an anticipated debut requires words.
Most people will compare it with So Far Gone, and it’s a fair comparison, that “shit sounded like an album”. Like So Far Gone, Thank Me Later mainly sticks to one sound (40 produces/co-produces most of the tracks here, with multiple track efforts also coming from usual suspects Boi-1da and Kanye West), with the other producers aiming to be consistent with Drake’s sound.
But what is “Drake’s sound”?
Drake’s sound consists of a lot of soft pads, sporadic bass, a lot of detuned, distorted drums, auto tuned singing, and rap verses when Drake feels it’s appropriate. It’s very apparent that we’re still feeling the affects of808’s & Heartbreak. With Kanye West and No I.D.’s production on Find Your Love, Drake attempts to create his own 808’s & Heartbreak song, with great results. It actually works just like 808’s & Heartbreak song: awkward at first, cringe-worthy even, and then exponentially ramping up in quality due to it’s infectious melody and then you realize: Drake’s ability to craft a song.
The greatest part of this album is Drake’s ability to push songs to evolve and test limits. Drake is no slave to the verse chorus verse structure, and it keeps the listener on their toes. The way the songs evolve help make the album cohesive, which doesn’t happen to often when you have a lot of producers on the album. It’s the song writing and delivery that help make Drake’s awkward situation lyrics (“Plus this woman that i mess with unprotected, texts saying she wishes she would have kept it, the one that i’m laying next to just looked over and read it” and awkward braggadocio “Two thumbs up, Ebert and Roper” seem great enough to sing along with. If this style of song and type of album influence hip hop into exploring a world outside of 3 16 bar verses wrapped in 4-8 bar choruses, listeners could be in for a treat.
The worst part of this album are the awful features, that are all clumped right next to each other in the middle of the album. Up All Night features Nicki Minaj, her brain dead flow, and her brain dead lyrics “I look like yes and you look like no”, and it’ll make you scratch your head when you get to Miss Me in which Drake admits to his love for Nicki Minaj. Fancy, a Mary J Blige throw away (listen for her on the hook) features Swizzy, offering the same kind of beat he gives everyone, with an obnoxious club hook (which is obnoxious for a song that is over 6 minutes), also features a fresh out of jail T.I. with a verse more awkward than his upcoming album’s title King Uncaged (…pause) featuring such lines as “plan on sucking some dicks until some millions appear” and “man she play the suckers like B.o.B. play the guitar” and then he goes on to list a bunch of fashion houses, and somehow includes Dooney and Burke. Thankfully, Fancy improves when Drake reclaims the song at 2:40. Things lighten up feature wise, as The-Dream and Young Jeezy offer solid appearances, and just as things seem bright, Light Up appears with the lousiest Jay-Z feature of all time. Jay-Z is in full Blueprint 3 mode, complete with a ton of ad libs as he waits for the next beat, and a ton of nonsense such as triple entendres (they don’t exist, Jay), admitting to not blogging, sounding old (“I once was as cool as the Fonz was”), and then ending the song like the cranky, rich, old, man that he’s become, proclaiming his love for all of his money he’ll never truly enjoy. The only thing missing from the Jay-Z feature is a bunch of “hold up“‘s while Jay attempts to think of a worthwhile bar to bother you with. The final feature is the most disappointing: Lil’ Wayne. Usually, when Drake and and Wayne get together, they make memorable music (Successful, Ransom, Ignant Shit), but Miss Me doesn’t deliver. Drake admits his love to Nicki Minaj (because her verses turn him on?) and then… Lil’ Wayne raps about nothing, but not in the way that is humorous or entertaining, but just in the way that doesn’t require me to care that he’s in prison not rapping on everyone’s song right now (Sidenote: The song is titled Miss Me, wouldn’t you think that Wayne would have rapped about being gone until November?).
If it weren’t for the features, Drake would have earned my gratitude for this album sooner than five listens in. Thankfully for both Drake and the listeners, the album has great replay-ability due to the catchy songwriting. While not great in the first listen, there’s enough here that warrants multiple listens. It does get better each go around, so much so, I’ll grant him freshman forgiveness for all of these awful features, hoping he doesn’t fall into a sophomore slump.
That said, I wouldn’t recommend this before So Far Gone, but it’s worth the listen when you get to it. Even the worst rappers (Rick Ross) have long careers, so someone as talented and influential as Drake will be here for a while.
Sidenote: I hate the stretched type next to Drake’s neck. It looks so sloppy, and it makes his neck look awkwardly long. Actually, I’ve hated his use of stretched type since Over.
