Drake’s worthiness as the top artist in the world has all but disappeared after dropping his 22-song playlist, “More Life.”
The playlist follows a mediocre “Views” album, released last April, and demonstrates Drizzy’s ability to find trends in order to remain relevant in a world that should’ve left him behind, especially after his weak collaboration album with Future.
It’s a daunting 81 minutes. Drake intended to, according to an interview with Complex magazine, “[create] a playlist to give you a collection of songs that become the soundtrack to your life.”
Unfortunately, the Toronto rapper created a boring album that only stays afloat thanks in part to its production and mixing value by people like Kanye West, Boi-1da, Noel “Gadget” Campbell and PartyNextDoor.
Opening with a beautiful sample from “Building a Ladder” by Hiatus Kaiyote, Drake segways into a soundbite from his speech at the American Music Awards where he won “Best Rap/Hip-Hop artist.”
He’s heard speaking in an odd Jamaican accent saying, “And more chune for your headtop, so watch how you speak on my name, you know?” which became the slogan for “More Life.”
The term “chune” is the Jamaican patois pronunciation for “tune” and “head top” means “crown of the head.” Basically, the Canadian rapper is telling everyone to watch out — spooky.
Further into “Free Smoke” Drake tackles some hard-hitting issues like how he came from nothing and is now something. It’s not that the bars are necessarily bad, it’s just that at this point in his career, no one really cares that he went from eating Kraft macaroni and cheese to shooting three’s with KD.
Following that we get a taste of UK Drake on the track “No Long Talk” featuring English rapper Giggs. The song is lined to the teeth with British street culture and slang that doesn’t belong anywhere near Drake’s mouth.
The song also features more patois and keeps the listener wondering what Drake is aiming for. Sometimes it seems even Drake can’t make up his mind.
Fast forward a little further in and we get the track, “Portland,” with big name American artists Travis Scott and Quavo. The song features an addictive flute melody that makes the song unique and absurdly catchy.
Drake hits up more lyrics about how he’s got all these girls now, which is cool I guess, but nothing groundbreaking. He goes on to take shots at someone, most likely Meek Mill who has had problems with Drake in the past.
Drake says, “Bitin’ everybody, which is ironic ‘cause your next album probably won’t ever see the light of day. Have fans, but you let them down…” This further perpetuates Drake’s pettiness when it comes to other artists dissing him. This beef has been forgotten about in the eyes of most listeners, so how long are you going to continue to beat this dead horse?
One of the best songs on the playlist is “Sacrifices,” because it’s where Drake thrives. Opening with a soft piano, his flow settles into something reminiscent of his older work. Halfway through the album, this was a relief.
Of course, his lyrics still focus on women and having nice things, but the beat and production give it more traction. It features great verses from 2 Chainz and Young Thug. The piano and pulsating beat blend nicely to give the track — more life. Without samples, the work shines and shows what Drake can do when he isn’t just copying trends.
Drizzy gave us an hour and 20 minutes of music, but to be honest less than half of it is worth listening to, just like his previous album. While his creative talent can be seen through some of the works, it’s saturated with too much of the same thing we always see, him calling people out and then talking about how he’s made it.
There’s obvious Jamaican and English vibes throughout the playlist that I think he could do without. Let’s stay away from appropriating culture for the sake of music.
Unless you have the time, don’t force yourself to sit through this album because it isn’t worth it. Read a book or something.
