Drake is perhaps the most notorious artist in hip hop right now. After last year’s mixtape If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late and What A Time To Be Alive, a collaborative project with Atlanta rapper Future, Drake is coming off a very hot year in 2016. His fourth studio album, VIEWS, was perhaps the most anticipated project of this year. He has led up to the release with a series of singles, including “Hotline Bling”, “Summer Sixteen”, and “One Dance”, all of which have garnered enormous radio play. Expectations were high for VIEWS, and being a big fan of Drake’s more recent work, I was very much looking forward to this LP.
“Keep The Family Close” (Prod. By Maneesh) – This is not the kind of song I was expecting to open the album. Drake’s music as of late has been much more hip hop and rap style, but “Keep The Family Close” sounds like it could be straight off Take Care. Drake sings about trust issues and betrayal on this song, possibly alluding to Nicki Minaj with a few lines (“All of my let’s-just-be-friends are friends I don’t have anymore”). The Maneesh-produced instrumental is full of very gracious string and organ arrangements, and the drums are very bombastic at times. Not feeling this one – Drake’s singing isn’t blowing me away here, but it sets an interesting and unexpected tone for the rest of the album.
“9” (Prod. By Brian Alexander Morgan, Boi-1da & Noah “40” Shebib) – This is Drake’s ode to the 6, and much more the kind of sound I was expecting and hoping for from this album. Drake raps about where he came from- Toronto, Canada. With lines like “I made a decision last night that I would die for it/Just to show the city what it takes to be alive for it” shows his strong affections for his hometown. The layered, saw tooth synth arrangements on this track are simply beautiful, as is the Jamaican sample serving as the hook. Drake’s turned the 6 upside down; it’s a 9 now.
“U With Me?” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib & Kanye West) – The Kanye West drum arrangement knocks hard on this track with a College Dropout-esque feel. Drake is questioning a girlfriend’s loyalty on this track, and shamelessly admits that he “Group DMs his exes”. The instrumentation is pretty muddy, but somewhat works due to 40’s excellent mixing. Aside from the drums, this track is relatively forgettable.
“Feel No Ways” (Prod. By Jordan Ullman) – Jordan Ullman, one half of the duo Majid Jordan, is responsible for the very groove-heavy production on this track. Drake is rapping about a girl who is no longer a fan of his ambitious and busy lifestyle. Presumably this is a nostalgic song, as Drake has been a very career-driven artist for some time now. He comes to the realization that “There’s more to sleeping in and getting high with you”, and ultimately chooses his career over this woman. This song is not particularly of the moment given Drake’s current status, and the average instrumental doesn’t keep this song from falling pretty flat.
“Hype” (Prod. By Nineteen85 & Boi-1da) – The sample on this banger reminds me in many ways of Bryson Tiller’s “502 Come Up”, and that is a very good thing. Drake is braggadocios on this track and tells his opponents they can never one up him. This song feels much more in line with Drake’s more recent work including “Summer Sixteen” and “Back To Back”. It hits hard and is one of my favorite songs on the album.
“Weston Road Flows” (Prod. By Stwo & Noah “40” Shebib) – The Mary J. Blige sample on this track is absolutely beautiful and is repurposed very well for a Drake song. Drake talks a lot about his past growing up on Weston Road on this song. It has a very nostalgic and personal feel that’s quite refreshing. Great song, one of the better on the album.
“Redemption” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib) – Very boring track. The beat on this song is muddy and simplistic, ultimately adding very little to the song. Drake sings and raps about bridges he’s burnt with past relationships and a desire to rebuild them, but also scorns them for the emotional trouble they had caused him. The stories he tells simply aren’t interesting, and this song as a whole is a dud.
“With You (feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR)” (Prod. By Murda) – This song also falls pretty flat. PARTYNEXTDOOR really doesn’t do anything interesting on this song. He and Drake both talk about the women who have left them and reminisce on the good and bad of the relationship. The instrumental by Murda is uninteresting and plain, which is a rarity from the “Pipe It Up” producer. Not a whole lot going on here other than filler.
“Faithful (feat. Pimp C & dvsn)” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib) – dvsn steals the show on this otherwise boring track. This was my first introduction to the new OVO signee, and his vocal performance towards the end of the album was very impressive. The instrumental is again muddy with little going on, and Drake is rapping about remaining faithful to a girl as she focuses on her career and tries to further herself. It’s a sweet song, but not particularly interesting. Also the Pimp C verse makes absolutely NO SENSE whatsoever in context, but it is a posthumous Pimp C verse so it’s hard to complain...
“Still Here” (Prod. By Daxz) – Excellent beat by Daxz on this track, and Drake brings some nice flows to this song as well. This is a very nice change of pace. Drake talks about how far he has come in the rap game and how he intends to stay. Especially in his second verse, Drake rides this banger very nicely. Good track.
“Controlla” (Prod. By Boi-1da) – The dancehall vibe of this track is different but works quite well. It has a similar feel to Rihanna’s “Work”, both in instrumental and vocal performance. Drake’s singing delivery is actually quite strong on this track, where he talks about his commitment to his woman and her ability to make him “Do things when you want me to/Like controlla” It was a risk that paid off well, and the instrumental fits the feel of the vocals near-perfectly.
“One Dance (feat. Kyla & Wizkid)” (Prod. By Nineteen85) – The lead single to VIEWS is another afro-beat dancehall sound, and this one makes Drake 2-for-2 so far. The Caribbean-style beat is very danceable and again somewhat reminiscent of “Work”. Drake’s performance is impressive on this track, and the backing vocals from Kyla & Wizkid are stellar. I would argue Kyla’s feature is the best on the entire album. This song has already gotten considerable radio play; expect it to dominate the waves this summer.
“Grammys (feat. Future)” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib & Southside) – As soon as I saw the Future feature and the Southside production credit, I knew to expect something very similar to What A Time To Be Alive – a trap beat where Future basically steals the show. And I was pretty much spot on. Southside is notorious for very simplistic instrumentation, as is 40. The combination of this may have made the beat a little too simplistic, but the drums hit hard. Drake is rapping about his musical past and how far he’s come, while Future raps about what he has done lately and how many feel he’s deserving of a Grammy. “They gonna think I won a Grammy/I’m showing out they can’t stand me”. The beat is definitely not as good as it could have been, but it’s a decent track in its own right.
“Child’s Play” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib & Metro Boomin) - Drake explains to a woman on this song that her desire for a new outfit is mere child’s play to him as he is so wealthy. He also mentions his love for the Cheesecake Factory. The hard-knocking Metro Boomin drum programming is nice and works oddly well with 40’s sparse low-end instrumentation. The usage of the “Rode That Dick Like A Soldier” sample was entertaining. Drake’s vocal performance is pretty good on this song, even if the subject matter isn’t super creative. Decent track.
“Pop Style” (Prod. By Sevn Thomas & Frank Dukes) – The instrumental on this song is impressive in how different it is but how hard it hits at the same time. He spends the song rapping about how his crew all want to do “pop style”, which is a Jamaican term for “ballin” or “showing off”. The lyrics about his OVO crew are braggadocios and work very well with the hard-hitting beat behind it. Great, catchy track.
“Too Good (feat. Rihanna)” (Prod. By Nineteen85) – Another successful “Work” style dancehall song, this time actual a duet with Rihanna herself. Nineteen85 does another great job on production here with a very danceable, Caribbean-style instrumental. The guitar riffs in particular on this track are beautiful. Drake and Rihanna, a couple on this song, both sing about how they go out of their way to treat the other person well, but feel as though they’re too good for the other person and their love is taken for granted. It’s an interesting story about miscommunication, and both artists deliver excellent vocal performances. Their past relationship makes this track all the more authentic.
“Summer’s Over Interlude (feat. Majid Al Maskati)” (Prod. By Maneesh) – This is a very interesting track that brings a sort of concept to VIEWS. Majid Al Maskati, the other half of Majid Jordan, delivers an excellent vocal performance and sings about how he is growing away from the love he had in the summer, even though the other lover intends to hold onto it. This message is not coming from Drake himself, and this harshness symbolizes the harshness of winters in the 6. Maybe… The concept of this album is vague and not very present. But the instrumental and vocal performance is very pretty. Not a bad track at all.
“Fire And Desire” (Prod. By Noah “40” Shebib) – Pretty corny song, even cringe worthy at a couple points. Drake is flatly singing about his dedication to one woman who is in a relationship with another man. It has a similar feel to his song “Marvin’s Room” on Take Care, although much less emotional. 40’s instrumental features some nice chipmunked samples, but there isn’t much of note going on other than that. Boring song with a theme that quite honestly makes me groan. Worst song on the album.
“Views” (Prod. By Maneesh) – The sampled beat on this song is going to make any hip hop head very happy. The Maneesh beat is done in a classic chop style and it hits hard. Drake raps on this song about his life on the road to success, and it’s very well done. The song reminds me of the second half of “Furthest Thing” off his 2013 Nothing Was The Same album. Good way to close the project before the bonus track.
“Hotline Bling (Bonus)” (Prod. By Nineteen85) – This song has dominated the radio waves for quite a while now and was one of the most popular songs of last year. It needs little explanation; you’ve surely heard this by now unless you live under a rock. Great track.
VIEWS is an album that has three different directions that it tries to go in at once. On songs like “Hype” and “Still Here”, Drake sounds very in touch with his more recent material and raps similar to how he did on If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. He also attempts to channel the sound that made his 2011 album Take Care such an enormous success with songs like “Keep The Family Close” and “Fire And Desire”. These are the weakest tracks on the album; they feature very stripped down, uninteresting beats and dull lyrical performances. Many tracks on this album simply lack the emotion of Take Care, and the fact that he tries to channel that vibe so much on VIEWS hurts the album significantly as a whole.
The best songs on the album are the Caribbean, dancehall style tracks. Drake takes the biggest risks both with instrumentals and with vocal performances on these songs, and they pay off quite nicely. “One Dance”, “Controlla”, and “Too Good” are three very different but very good songs. When Drake takes risks and moves into new territory, he is at his height on VIEWS.
VIEWS could have been significantly shorter than it was. If this 20-track album had been more like 13 or 14 tracks it would have been a much better body of work. Ultimately there are some great songs on VIEWS, but the filler and failed attempts to replicate a sound that is simply not the best in Drake’s repertoire anymore hurt the album. It is good in its own right, but also his weakest offering in several years.
BEST SONGS: Weston Road Flows, Hype, One Dance, Too Good, Pop Style, 9
WORST SONGS: Fire And Desire, Keep The Family Close, With You, Redemption
OVERALL: 7/10
