At long last, Drake’s new playlist is finally here.
It has been over six months since the project was first announced and the Young Money-signed artist brought along an all-star list of featured collaborators that make the project quite an interesting listen. Heavily influenced by one of the fastest growing genres in the U.K., known as grime rap, “More Life” has a whopping 22 tracks with 11 featured artists and just over 81 minutes of playtime.
Since Drake’s 2015 release of “If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late,” a large wave of internationally-influenced beats have littered his work. Prior to “Views” in 2016, he released the No. 1 hit single “One Dance,” which featured U.K. singer Kyla, Nigerian Afrobeat star Wizkid and a dancehall-inspired backing track produced by Nineteen85. Other tracks from “Views” follow in suit, including the other dancehall tune, “Controlla,” which originally featured Jamaican artist Popcaan. “More Life” continues the culturally diverse production trend and introduces grime rappers to the mainstream hip-hop world.
Executive producers Drake and Noah “40” Shebib did a stellar job of capturing grime’s blend of European electro/hip-hop and Jamaican dancehall. While nicely executed from the production angle, it does not compliment Drake’s signature sound.
Giggs’ guest verses on rap bangers “KMT” and “No Long Talk” give an awkward, new sound to tracks that Drake alone would normally go off on.
At times, his lyrics sound almost nonsensical, with bars like “Man bat bat it, then we buck or somethin.”
Skepta’s heavy British accent is new to traditional rap fans, but his track “Skepta Interlude” seems a bit out of place on a Drake album. Perhaps it would fit better on a collaboration playlist.
The inner R&B crooner that made “Views” the album that grew on everyone comes out again on slow-jam tracks like “Nothings Into Somethings” and “Since Way Back.” It just would not be a Drake record without them. PARTYNEXTDOOR’s instantly recognizable voice pairs nicely with Drake’s own once again for a song of old, lost love.
Kanye West is once again featured on “Glow,” but it was a rather sub-par effort in what is the most disappointing song on the album. Recorded over a slow, lackluster and repetitive beat, both rappers fail to showcase their hard-hitting delivery styles and match the potential that listeners have come to expect from a Drizzy and Yeezy collaboration.
The biggest highlight of the album is apparent to listeners right away. The flute-accented, up-tempo banger, “Portland,” featuring Quavo and Travis Scott. Drake pulls out his sharp, signature rap delivery for an infectious song about his success so far, while Quavo brings the heat on the hook with a few shout outs to Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps.
Speaking of shout outs, Drake once again took aim at rap foe Meek Mill on the most underrated track on the list, “Can’t Have Everything.”
“…tried to serve me up a cheesesteak/I gave ‘em back a clean plate,” Drake arrogantly raps. The obvious shot at Mill’s hometown Philadelphia shows Drake is not about to let Mill forget about his loss in their 2015 rap feud.
“More Life” succeeds in giving newer Drake fans what they have been accustomed to hearing from him since the beginning of 2016, with his dancehall-inspired beats and newcomer features, but the older Drizzy experts will most likely set this one aside as his fourth or fifth best. Like “Views,” it may take some time for this project to grow on them.
