Tuscan Leather: A straight rap song with a kind of dark, kind of nocturnal (and admittedly creepy) instrumental, there’s no hook on this one, but it actually feels like Drake is trying to be a bit harder than he usually is, and he’s trying to prove he’s not super emotional here. And it works, it makes for a really interesting track because it feels like he’s talking about going in a less radio-friendly direction, but still having music that will get airplay because he’s Drake. The track does beg the question, though: how much time is he spending on the intro? In all seriousness, good track and good start to the album.
Furthest Thing: A lighter, more nocturnal track that feels more trap-flavored, Drake spends more time crooning in his lower voice on this track, and as always, his sing-rapping is smooth. The hook is also really fun and catchy, and while the beat changes to something more anthemic after the second hook, Drake’s high-energy performance and decent lyricism keep this one pretty interesting.
Started From the Bottom: One of Drake’s biggest tracks, I honestly never liked the hook on this thing. I don’t know why, but I guess I’ve never really been that crazy about Drake’s kind of shouty vocals on this track, and while I get he’s trying to be a bit harder, his performance just comes off as cheesy to me. The lyrics aren’t too bad here, but the rather generic trap-flavored beat doesn’t do the track any real favors. I’m sorry, I’ve just never been all that crazy about this track, and outside of Drake’s smooth vocals on the bridge, hearing it again fully didn’t do anything different for me.
Wu-Tang Forever: Another more generic trap-flavored beat accompanies something of a tribute to Wu-Tang, and while Drake comes through with some nice crooning on this track, some parts of the song just feel a bit cheesy, lyrically and vocally. I think there’s some decent enough charm here, but I can’t tell if he’s trying to make a love song, or something introspective about his life. It’s not a bad track, but I kind of just feel nothing after listening to it.
Own It: Another very nocturnal, spacey track, I feel like this is a more successful attempt at a “love song” than “Wu-Tang Forever” was, and I once again love Drake’s sing-rapping throughout, along with the minimalism on the verse. The only thing that really stops this track from being one of my favorites is that I’m not really all that crazy about PARTYNEXTDOOR’s hook because, while it’s definitely pretty fun, I think the vocal effects really don’t allow him to fully utilize his vocal potential enough (he’s got a great voice, and the effects stop him from showing that). Decent track, but I’m not sure I’ll be coming back to it all that much.
Worst Behavior: I’m sorry, I don’t see how this track shows Drake on his “worst behavior.” It’s just him kind of screaming and talking about how people never loved him over a boring trap beat that feels like it has too much going on. Sure, Drake’s flow is rock solid on the third verse, but unfortunately, you’d have to sit through two rather uninspired verses and hooks to get to that strong third verse, and even on the third verse, you’ll have to deal with the annoying, “too-much-going-on” beat, so all in all, not a great track.
From Time (ft. Jhené Aiko): I like the lighter, more piano-driven melody on this track, and I think it flows well with the snappy trap beat on this one. Also, I personally think that, when you add Jhené Aiko’s very beautiful, gentle vocals to your hook, you’re only making your song better, so big ups to Drake for getting her on the hook. Not to discredit his performance, though, because I like his rather introspective, kind of sad-sounding verse on this track. I really like this one!
Hold On, We’re Going Home (ft. Majid Jordan): To me, this feels kind of like a sequel to “Find Your Love.” It’s a nice, dreamy R&B track with some very smooth, pretty crooning from Drake and a fun, catchy drum beat. It’s obviously not a straight rap song, but it’s definitely a pretty-sounding, dance-y track. Here, Drake collaborates with Majid Jordan, and the result is something fun and upbeat that, even after so many years, remains danceable and head-noddy.
Connect: Drake’s vocals on this track are very nice, but his verses just feel a bit too boring for me, and it feels like there’s too much empty space on those verses. The trap beat is also relatively contrived for the most part, though I do think the hook has some ear-wormy potential. All in all, some good things are going on here vocally, but it feels like the instrumental melody and the beat leave a bit to be desired. Still not the worst thing Drake has ever put out, just nothing all that exciting.
The Language: A much louder, more braggadocious track, once again it feels like Drake is trying to find a balance between bragging about life and crooning for a girl, and it just doesn’t work for me. Drake’s flow here is reminiscent of Migos’ “Versace,” and while it’s impressive to see him rapping pretty fast, it just gets a little annoying after a while. Birdman also comes in at the very end of the track…for some reason. I don’t know if his appearance was an attempt at saving this, but unfortunately, it doesn’t, and while this isn’t one of Drake’s worst songs, it’s just another song that I feel nothing after hearing. It just felt like it went in one ear and out the other, and I don’t want to return to it after this review.
305 to My City (ft. Detail): Detail sings the hook on this track, but unfortunately, his hook doesn’t…ahem…*hook.* It just kind of bores me. And while I like the ethereal, nocturnal instrumental, Drake’s performance just sounds slightly sleep-inducing to me. Having a very basic, wallpaper trap beat doesn’t really help the song feel any less boring than it is, either. Unfortunately, just not digging this track. It just feels like it’s going on too long, and for how little energy it has, don’t be shocked if you start to nod off or zone out while listening to it.
Too Much: On this very introspective track, Sampha handles the hook with some kind of broken-sounding, delicate vocals, and Drake raps about his insecurities about becoming one of the biggest rappers out there, and he also interweaves this with some lyrics about his family that make this feel like one of his more personal, more nerve-wracking tracks. And while I was a bit iffy on the beat at first, Drake’s honesty and Sampha’s emotional hook keep this one interesting enough that I can forgive it.
Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2 (ft. Jay-Z): Not counting the two Deluxe Edition tracks, this is the finale to the album. For Part 1, which is “Pound Cake,” Timbaland handles the hook, and his performance is…well, it’s something. I do like Drake’s verse on this track, and while his lyrics were a little cheesy at first listen, they quickly grew on me, and Jay-Z comes through with a pretty decent verse on this one, even if his second verse left something to be desired. For the second part, “Paris Morton Music 2,” Drake once again goes pretty introspective over a pounding, pretty enjoyable beat, and his lyricism keeps this second part pretty interesting, even if the track slows to a crawl in the end. Not one of the album’s best songs, but it’s definitely a good track, and it might grow on me in the future.
Come Thru: The first bonus track of the album sees Drake talking about a girl that used to live in his town, Drake croons throughout this track and blends this crooning with some nice, smooth sing-rapping (and occasionally straight-rapping) on the verses. His straight-rapping verse also sees him providing a pretty charismatic (and kind of funny) performance. Even when the song goes through a really strange beat change after the second hook, it’s a pretty fun, emotional track that I think I’ll listen to quite a bit in the future.
All Me (ft. 2 Chainz and Big Sean): The final track of the album sees Drake providing a pretty memorable and enjoyable hook and dripping with effortless self-confidence over a more upbeat, ethereal instrumental and a decent trap beat. The song also features 2 Chainz and Big Sean, the former delivering a verse that, has enough effortless self-confidence to entertain. The latter provides a verse that, while not turning me into a fan, still has some pretty decent flow and a charismatic enough performance from Big Sean. This is a song I used to play a lot a few years ago, and while it did cool on me significantly, it’s kind of grown back on me a bit with repeat listens. A pretty good track that ends off the album solidly enough.
Overall, though, this is a Drake record I’m largely indifferent towards. Here, it feels like Drake tries to go in a bit of a harder direction than usual, going less radio-friendly and sticking to some more hard-rap tracks, and while that’s fine and all, it just kind of feels like it’s a facade, and he’s still not as “hard” and “tough” as he could be. Constantly rapping over some very contrived and bland trap beats throughout doesn’t really help matters much. It feels like all of the songs on here could be improved in several ways and, in general, I just find a lot of the stuff on here to be some of Drake’s least interesting, least replay-button-worthy material. Maybe it’s because of the less radio-friendly approach, maybe it’s because the concept of going less radio-friendly was just better in concept than in execution, but a number of the songs on here just went in one ear and then out the other. It’s not a terrible record, per se, but all in all, I think it’s the weakest Drake project I’ve covered so far.
Next time, however, we’ll be covering “If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late.” I’ve heard great things about that record, so I’m interested in checking it out!
Favorite tracks: Tuscan Leather, Furthest Thing, From Time, Hold On, We’re Going Home, Too Much, Come Thru, All Me*
Least favorite tracks: Started From the Bottom, Worst Behavior, The Language, 305 to My City
Rating: Okay
(*An asterisk next to a “favorite track” indicates that the track wasn’t initially one of my “favorite tracks” when I first wrote the review. If a track has an asterisk next to it, it means the song wasn’t initially a favorite of mine, but it grew on me, and the text for the song may have been edited to more properly reflect that.)
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