After a three-month delay, Drake's new project More Life is finally here.
The last time we saw Drake, he put out his fourth album Views. Now, my final thoughts on that album was a little messy. One minute, I was saying it was his most versatile work, the next, I was saying how disappointing it was. Honestly, the album was alright, but when comparing it to the rest of his albums, it was very disappointing for me. Don't get me wrong, there were some good tracks here and there on the album, but considering the two year hype, it could've been better. There was hardly any replay value for most of the tracks, and a lot of the lyrics were awful. You know the album is average when you enjoy the prelude project (If You're Reading This It's Too Late) than the actual album.
And I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Views actually received some mixed/lukewarm reception from fans and critics, who mainly felt that other than the three dancehall tunes, Drake wasn't doing anything new with the project, and was reverting back to the same old shit he's been doing for the past 5 years he's been running the game. And they're not lying, that's disappointing for an album that's been in the works for two years and hyped up to be his magnum opus. Sure, it was his bestselling album and Drizzy took advantage of this streaming system adding onto sales. But, let's be real, the average music listeners were probably banging out mainly "One Dance", "Controlla" and "Too Good". Only a minority aka some Drake fans (including me) had other songs on repeat.
Now, More Life has been in the works for some time, and is classified as a playlist rather than a mixtape or actual album. In October 2016, on the OVO Sound Radio birthday special to celebrate his 30th birthday, Drake premiered 4 new tracks: "Fake Love", "Sneakin" with 21 Savage, a Pusha T/Kid Cudi diss called "Two Birds, One Stone" and a remix of British rapper Dave's "Wanna Know". On the same episode, the project was announced with a December release date, just eight months after the successful release of Views. Unfortunately, it was pushed back, due to Drake wanting more time to finish the project. It was then set for a tentative January release date, but unfortunately, that album was nowhere to be found. And then, he promised to release the album before February 26, and he didn't. Drake's manager/OVO Sound label founder Oliver El-Khatib hinted that the project was gonna premiere on the next episode of OVO Sound Radio, which was originally March 4. Instead, the episode got cancelled, and More Life was nowhere to be found. How many fake tracklists were surfacing throughout the past few weeks?! It was annoying. And the amount of times Drake was saying he was working on/finishing the project, I was expecting it to be a whole eternity till we got the project.. But the day has come and finally, it's here.
In an interview with DJ Semtex a few weeks back, Drake basically described the sound of More Life as an OVO Sound Radio show, but this time, every song played is a new song from him. Why is this project being classified as a "playlist"? According to him, it's supposed to be his evolution from his mixtape releases, rather than just being like his previous tape If You're Reading This It's Too Late where you had to pay for it. It's obvious that he wants to lower the anticipation and buildup by classifying it as that, so that he can be free from criticism and they can take it as a little gift rather than an actual cohesive album (although the project was pushed back over THREE times, so at that point, there was even more hype to it). Officially premiered on OVO Sound Radio yesterday as a playlist by October Firm (which is a duo project by Drake & Oliver El-Khatib), it features 22 tracks with guest appearances from Giggs, Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Quavo, Travis Scott, Kanye West and more.
Last night, my first listen was pretty good. It managed to capture my attention just from the first song. My problem with Views was that for what was expected to be a magnum opus in Drake's career, it sounded uninspired, and was an overlong retread of what he was doing for the past few years. Hardly anything interested me apart from a quarter of the album, and unlike his other albums, he didn't manage to keep the balance between his singing and rapping like he usually would. With More Life, Drake sounds slightly more inspired. It's a playlist, so I expected a range of sounds, and the way he approached the project's concept of positivity and celebration is way better than how he did the Summer/Winter mood concept of Views. Is it out of his comfort zone? Nah, it's still what you expect from him, and like Views and Take Care, it's loaded with a lot of tracks, with a runtime of 81 minutes. But the playlist got something for everyone: bangers, introspection, Island jams, wavy R&B joints and lyrical standouts. And with every listen, I happen to enjoy the album more.
The vibes were all different. It wasn't just straight rap, dancehall, house or R&B. Just like If You're Reading This It's Too Late, the playlist started off with a bang rather than an introspective lyrical song. The intro, "Free Smoke" is like a sequel to the throwaway single "Summer Sixteen", a Meek Mill/Tory Lanez diss that dropped last January. It has the same drums and banging vibe as it samples Tony Yayo & Danny Brown's "Roll Up", and Drizzy is on his IYRTITL aggressive shit, continuing to take shots at Meek ("How you let the kid fighting ghostwritin' rumors turn you to a ghost?"). And it's not the first time he does this on the project: "Lose You" is your typical lyrical/introspective track from The Boy, which sees him do the same thing ("All you did was write the book on garbage ass Rollies/Ego strokin', picture postin'/Claiming that you'd do it for motivational purposes only"). Even the outro "Do Not Disturb" had a few shots at Tory Lanez, which I can't be arsed to copy and paste onto here. "No Long Talk" is a dark and menacing banger, with Murda on the beat (so it's not nice, haha), along with Cubeatz. There are a lot of bangers and headboppers on this playlist, including "Portland", "Sacrifices" and "Can't Have Everything", along with the smooth riders like "Lose You", "Do Not Disturb" and "Jorja Interlude".
Drake also manages to continue with the wavy and laidback R&B sound, which he does better here than he did on Views, an album that mainly consisted of singing tracks, whether pop or R&B. "Nothings into Somethings" is an interlude, with Drizzy in his feelings again like it's 2010, seeing him complain about hearing that a girl that he was in a relationship with is engaged to someone else. It's my favourite R&B joint on the project, but ends so short. Bryson Tiller or PARTYNEXTDOOR would've been perfect for this. "Since Way Back" is a slow jam, in which Drake & Party croon over a promiscuous lover that they met time ago. It reminds me of the bedmaking cut "Shut It Down" on Thank Me Later; mainly because of the beat switch up in the middle, the singing throughout and also the 6 minute runtime. "Teenage Fever", with a title that sounds like a classic 80s disco tune, is your typical dark and emotional R&B track from The Boy, where he sings about his transition to an old relationship to a new one. Hagler samples the Jennifer Lopez hit "If I Had Your Love", which makes the track even better and nostalgic. "Fake Love" is the only single that made it on to the tracklisting, with "Two Birds, One Stone" and "Sneakin'" nowhere to be found. And 5 months later, it still sounds fresh. Drizzy still hasn't let the dancehall island vibes go, with songs like "Madiba Riddim" and "Blem" once again aiming to be hits. And "Passionfruit" is the "Feel No Ways" of the playlist, with a poppy and funky instrumental that is slightly different from the rest of the album. It's not necessarily my favourite, but it's something I might appreciate more as the Summer comes.
The features are just right, and Drake uses them appropriately. They're some of my favourite moments on the album. The talented and beautiful British singer Jorja Smith provides some vocals on "Jorja Interlude" and also manages to replace JLo for "Get It Together", a cover of the classic "Superman" by Black Coffee & Bucie. Quavo and Travis Scott come through on the banger "Portland", which is one of my favourite songs on the album. When a song has a flute, you know it's gonna be fire: Timbaland & Magoo's "Indian Flute", Meek Mill & Rick Ross' "On the Corner", Future's "Mask Off" and now this. Brtish rapper Giggs is on two songs: "No Long Talk" and the controversial "KMT" (you know, that song that was accused of taking the flow from XXXTENTACION's "Look at Me"), and although the Americans have gave negative feedback to his verses, I personally thought his verses were decent. The Batman line got me cracking up, and it wasn't the first time he did it (check out his verse on JME's "Man Don't Care"). Grime legend Skepta has his own interlude on the project, and it had me bumping my head so much. Another song where he fails to disappoint, and furthers the reason why he's one of the best Grime MCs.
Young Thug & 2 Chainz are on the laidback piano-led banger "Sacrifices". Drake did his thing, Tity was alright, but sounded a little boring. However, Thugga managed to have the best verse on the album. Out of all people, I didn't expect myself to be messing with his verse a lot more. Then again, that's not the first time. Thug took over Meek Mill's "Offended", with a fire hook and impressive verse. And "Glow" is one of the best songs on the album. It's a pretty underrated one, in comparison to joints like "Portland", "Sacrifices" and "Do Not Disturb", but it's an experimental and chill track. Kanye West is on this and you can tell it was an outtake from their planned collab album. I was surprised that Kanye was on the album, remembering the last OVO Sound Radio episode where Drake took Kanye's Saint Pablo rant out of context. They both complement the track! Ye's verse wasn't bad, and he kinda took over the track while Drizzy was more like the hook to the song. It's the ending that gets me though, them nostalgic feels there. The sample was beautiful and reminded me of College Dropout. If it was 2005, I'm sure Kanye would've flipped that soul sample so hard.
While I enjoyed most of the album, There were a few average tracks, like 4 or 5. As I said before, "Passionfruit" is a funky pop tune, but at the same time, kinda bored me. I think it's something you'd appreciate more in the Summer, just riding out to it in the sun. "Blem" is pretty similar to "Controlla", but out of the island tunes on the project, it was the one that didn't get to me like that. Hell, even "Get It Together" impressed me a little, and I didn't even care for it like that. Speaking of that song, it's alright. Jorja Smith took over the song, and she got talent. I remember finding her on SOUNDS App, and being impressed by her music. But compared to the original Black Coffee version "Superman", it's kinda shit. The Sampha interlude "4422" was boring, and went on for too long. It was one of those songs where I was impressed with how it was built up, but by the middle, it felt bland. And "Gyalchester"... hmm... you know when a song bangs but at the same time, you're not really feeling it like that? That was exactly my feelings towards the song. It's cool if you like it, but I've heard better. And "Ice Melts" was alright, but honestly, Young Thug saved the track. I might have to give that song a couple listens, I might like it in the future. "Can't Have Everything" was one that had potential to be one of my favourites. It started off so good, but when that second verse came, I was like WTF. Dude was offbeat, and even if he caught the flow later on, he'd go back to being offbeat by the third verse. I've gotten used to it and even tried to catch the flow, but I end up being annoyed when it comes on.
But overall, More Life is a solid piece of work. A step up from Views, in terms of bars, quality and the sound. It has something for everyone, whether it's a couple bangers or the laidback R&B sound. Dancehall, pop, R&B, rap; Drizzy got it for y'all. Is it as long as Take Care & Views?: Yeah, but the difference between this and the latter (Views), is that most of the tracks actually managed to impress me and I hardly switched off. I'd rate it a 7 or 7.5/10. It's up there with IYRTITL and Nothing Was the Same. Drake gave us his typical style, and not too much was different from his past material. But it's what Views should've been. I know I've brought that album up a lot throughout this post, but honestly, More Life is a lot more diverse and it's a better mix of styles, whether it's Afrobeat or R&B. Here's to a good year for The Boy, hoping he drops some throwaways later this year. Or we'll see him next year like promised in "Do Not Disturb".
"I'll be back in 2018 to give you the summary, More Life"
Best Tracks: "Do Not Disturb", "Portland", "Sacrifices", "Glow", "Lose You", "Free Smoke", "Madiba Riddim", "Fake Love", "Nothings into Somethings", "Skepta Interlude"
Songs I Don't Care About: "4422", "Get It Together", "Ice Melts", "Gyalchester"
