Aubrey Graham aka Wheelchair Jimmy, er, I mean Drake, is a rapper/singer superstar who has taken the pop music world by storm in the past decade. He came into the mainstream with his EP “So Far Gone,” which included his breakout single “Best I Ever Had.” He made a name for himself with his unique (not too unique) rap-sing style, where he could switch back and forth from a typical intense rapper to a soft and emotional singer. This has given him much mainstream success, as he has broken records and won countless awards, including Grammys, with his numerous projects.
Drake’s success has come with a large amount of criticism. He's often criticized for being “too soft,” where some of the lyrics suggest that he can be petty, too revealing and at times disrespectful when it comes to his relationships. Even more controversial, Drake is known for being influenced by other genres and artists when making his music and is often criticized for stealing these styles. While this isn’t uncommon in music, Drake often fails to give credit to his influencers. He is even criticized for using up-and-coming artists for his own personal gain and leaving them out to dry when he’s done utilizing their sound. His extremely passionate and vocal fanbase hasn’t helped his case either, as his fans often put him on a pedestal. Personally, I enjoy Drake for what he is: a pop rapper. A lot of his tracks are very good and pretty catchy, but I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore fan.
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First off, “More Life” is an album, not a playlist. Although it highlights other artists like Sampha and Young Thug, this is clearly a Drake-centric project. “More Life” is classic Drake, no more, no less. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however. The project includes all of the traits that make Drake’s music popular, including his soft emotional ballad-like R&B songs, as well as his rapping that often takes “inspiration” from other artists. I enjoy many of the songs on this project, especially “Passionfruit,” a catchy R&B tune, and “Teenagefever,” a slow and sultry song that samples Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” (most likely an allusion to the rumors that Drake and Lopez were dating). However, “More Life” has 22 tracks, and, like his past projects, the lackluster songs seem to outweigh the good ones. There aren’t any bad tracks, which I guess is something, but many of the songs on this album aren’t very interesting. I also feel like Drake was often showed up by other rappers’ verses on the project, such as Giggs, Quavo and British rapper Skepta, who actually had a track that features just him (it BUMPS). Like his previous album “Views,” this project does include Reggae influence, but, especially as a Jamaican, I’m becoming less and less ok with his quasi-Caribbean accent. It definitely isn’t natural, as he’s Canadian, so I really don’t think it’s necessary.
The biggest thing I got out of listening to “More Life” is that it has reaffirmed something I’ve been saying for a while. I think that Drake should stop releasing projects so close together, and start taking more time to release music. Drake clearly has the potential to be taken more seriously by the rap community, something that he has struggled with. For some reason, he feels the need to release projects one after another to stay relevant. The fact that he recorded “More Life” while on tour confuses me even more, as he is already getting attention for his shows. I believe that this practice diminishes the quality of all of his projects. He could easily spend more time in the studio and take more time to finely tune his personal sound, which can help him avoid being accused of biting off of other artists’ sound. He’s a pop star, so I also think he’d benefit from taking a break so it gives his fans a chance to miss him instead of over-saturating the market. Unfortunately, I don’t think Drake will ever do this, because, from a purely commercial standpoint, he doesn’t need to. His fans will eat up whatever he releases, and his songs will always get heavy radio play. DJs love his music too, as many of his songs have similar tempos.
All in all, I thought this was a solid effort, but the Canadian rapper failed to bring anything new to the table. This project probably won’t lead to any additional Drake fans, and, like “Views,” will most likely be overshadowed by other projects coming out this year (*cough* Kendrick Lamar, April 7th *cough*).
