Drake has done it again. Just last week, the Toronto artist released his fifth studio album More Life, and since then it has been topping the charts. More Life became the most streamed album on Spotify, raging in 61.3 million plays and counting. While some are amazed at the success of More Life, some feel as though this is mere work done by the artist. Allow me to explain.
After releasing Views last summer, I was amazed. In my opinion, Views was a mesh of all the work he had previously done in a more modern approach. Needless to say, I was very excited when I heard he dropped another album. Halfway through the album, I noticed that Drake’s patois fetish is more prevalent than ever. It’s almost like in just a year, he’s become a full blooded Jamaican man. It was really cute at first, but now its becoming very redundant. Not too sure how much longer he’ll be using this alter ego of his, but hopefully its coming to an end soon. However, critics said once Views released last year that it would take a minute for fans to latch on. Will the same happen for More Life? Only time will tell.
Don’t get me wrong, More Life does have moments where it shines. First off, once you listen to the album straight through, you’ll realize that each track flows in with one another. Matter of fact, Drake stated that this isn’t an “album”, but more of a playlist. Hence the reason why there’s 22 tracks. The transitions are perfect and in harmony. The album also made an astonishing attempt to bring British and grime rappers to light. I’m willing to bet more people know grime rapper Giggs and and South African producer Black Coffee now that they landed a spot on More Life. Even though the artist wasn’t credited, Sampha crooned amazingly on the track “4422”, personally one of my favorites. Drake also takes a few jabs at artists such as Queens pioneer Jay Z, Toronto artist Tory Lanez, and of course Meek Mill.
Should we take More Life as serious as his past work? Well, people thought the same about the highly successful mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and it was a banger. Drake will always continue to break streaming and chart barriers effortlessly. He is an artist that everyone loves and cant get enough of. His new format of creating a “playlist” for fans rather than an album might push artists to follow in his steps, being the innovator he is.
-HCxo!