The past couple of years Drake has shown the world that he is truly the king of making hits and rarely missing. His first three studio albums have earned him RIAA multiplatinum certifications, and his newest, ‘VIEWS’ figures to be no different with over half a million copies sold on its first day.
There has been a lot of chatter on Twitter over the album not being his strongest body of work and after listening to the album the first time I kind of agree. However, this album has a lot deep meaning and personal situations, hence its title, ‘VIEWS’. After listening to the album non-stop the past couple days I can see the vision.
In my opinion I feel ‘VIEWS’ gets off to a slow start, with the first song on the album, “Keep the Family Close,” which I think doesn’t carry the momentum coming off songs like “Summer Sixteen” and “Back to Back.” The song placement could have been tweaked a bit to give it a little bit more of a spark off the bat. The lack of press Drizzy did on this album left us to dissect the song order with our own judgement.
To me “9” would have been a better way to lead into the album. The heavy drums and production on “9” clearly display 40’s brilliant production skills. “9,” also goes right into showing love and gratitude for his city of Toronto, stating he would die for it.
By the time you get to the fifth song off the album, “Hype,” you start feeling the vibes and Drake is clearly in full form.
“Hype,” let’s everyone know he’s done with the bullshit and possess a similar flow to that of “Summer Sixteen,” with quick jabs at Meek Mill. He also references Rihanna, compares himself to Michael Jackson and shouts out his original label, Young Money with the line: “’09 they was biddin’ on me, but I’m Young Money got it written on me.”
My top 6ix songs off ‘VIEWS’ are as follow: “Weston Road Flows”, “9”, “Views”, “Feel No Ways”, “Still Here” and “Too Good.”
I didn’t include “Pop Style”, “One Dance” and “Controlla” because those are indisputable hits, and if you don’t think so refer to the numbers —they never lie.
With “One Dance” and “Controlla, Drizzy showed his evolution as an artist. Those two songs can be classified as Dancehall genre with the irie, fun island vibes. This is what I love about Drake as an artist, he isn’t afraid to try new things.
Don’t let the playful songs get it twisted. On “Still Here,” Drizzy proclaims his title of MVP and shows he’s not the one to be played with. He also lashes at foes while bragging about women, his excess of funds and his intentions to remain on top of the game. The song also further preaches family unity, one of the themes of the album.
This album was a little heavier on features, many from Drake’s OVO Sound imprint. The biggest feature on the album was Rihanna on the song “Too Good.”
“Too Good”, has a similar feel to their most previous collaboration on “Work”. All of their collabs dating back to “What’s My Name,” focus on a relationship, maybe the current state of their accordance. The chemistry is clear on all the songs they do together, it’s very organic and sparkly. Drake touched on that chemistry during his exclusive interview with Zane Lowe.
“Too Good” came to fruition after we did ‘Work.’ I was like, I think I have one that would follow this one up really nicely. She got in the studio and just bodied it,” He told Zane Lowe. “It was like a flawless victory when she sent it back …We have a genuine energy between us.”
On “Faithful” Drake goes back to his early roots of showing love to the Southern sound by putting Pimp C’s posthumous verse off the “Tom Ford” Remix. The song has a sensitive side to it and shows Drake’s fondness for a girl who’s to busy pursuing her dreams to engage in a full-on relationship.
There’s a lot of hits on the album, it’s hard to pick my favorite one. For the sake of the article I will say “Weston Road Flows” is definitely a classic. The Mary J. Blige sample fits perfectly. “Weston Road Flows” is just that signature Drake throwback that works as a journal entry as he reflects on his come-up days in a natural gloomy, pensive manner. You can hear the enjoyment in his voice throughout the song.
‘VIEWS’ is another masterpiece and will probably go certified multiplatinum. The kind of numbers it is expected to do are comparable to Pop stars like Taylor Swift. Not much has changed in the quality or sound of Drake’s music. He still talks about relatable topics like relationships, he still has very quotable punchlines that will flood your timeline and he still has that same charisma and energy.
His star-power continues to trump those of your favorites. The release of his album saw many host listening parties and treat it very much like a holiday, something only a handful of artists can achieve.
The one thing that did leave me in awe was the release date for the album. Drizzy is notorious for releasing music when nobody expects it. I thought he would spontaneously put out ‘VIEWS’ at 3 a.m. on a Wednesday night or something. Maybe the Apple deal complicated that.
If you haven’t heard ‘VIEWS’ yet, get it NOW on iTunes!
