Drake
Views
[Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money]
Drake is a rapper. We know this from the occasional rap songs he puts out and the occasional beefs he gets into. Views isn’t a rap album, however. In fact, the feeling it gives off is that of a diary written by a man whose day job is rapping, who comes home after a long day’s work, kicks off his shoes, voice activates his mood lighting, pours a glass of wine and considers his life.
It’s interesting to see the real Drake, but it’s also relentlessly tedious to hear him half-sing about his troubles: people, and especially women, are disloyal to him, mostly. Apart from the toned-down Latin rhythm of Hotline Bling, the mood is loungey, like one of Sinatra’s later where-did-it-go-wrong albums but without the edge.
Songs like 9 have a certain snap to them and Drake, for all his pained introspection, can break out into moments of inspiration at any time. But ultimately it’s hard to buy him as an underdog, and he’s asking the listener to do that for well over an hour.
Like this? Try these:
J Cole – Coleworld
Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. City
Frank Sinatra – In the Wee Small Hours
Words: Karl McDonald
