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. Three years later, it remains Drake's most divisive project. 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.
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. Upon first listen, many felt it was bloated and underwhelming.īut in many other ways, it's the best representation of Drake as we know him now: the eclectic, confident, irritated, unabashedly corny, taste-making icon. In many ways, "Views" disappointed fans and critics, largely thanks to the feverish hype that led up to its release. 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 stan for Drake as a pure rapper, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" is the holy grail.
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