Drake - Views From The 6 - Reviewed

Drake has reached a level in his career where it seems reasonable to claim that his stature and influence on the rap game is unparalleled. After becoming infamous for blurring the lines between hip-hop and R&B, a wave of artists putting their own spin on his formula have followed in his footsteps (Bryson Tiller, The Weeknd).

The status Drake has achieved hasn't come without struggle. A large portion of the hip-hop community lost their faith in his integrity as a rapper when it was revealed he was no stranger to using ghost-writers. Nevertheless, the Toronto-born artist overcame this, and last year saw Drake release two commercial mixtapes, the first of which (‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’) was a 17-track masterpiece littered with sharp, trap-flavoured production and was home to the majority of his strongest tracks to date. Views has arguably gained the most pre-release buzz of any album so far this year, even more so as Drake can now finally boast a UK number one single with ‘One Dance’. This is indicative of how his previous R&B singles with little-to-no rapping (‘Hotline Bling’, ‘Hold On We’re Going Home’, etc.), tend to resonate better with fans in terms of commercial success. The vocal capabilities that we expect from a Drake project are taken to new heights on Views, with tracks like ‘U With Me?’ and ‘Fire & Desire’ exhibiting better vocals than we have ever seen from the 6-God.

Regrettably, it is primarily the production where Views falls short. The dancehall influence that seeps through this album is not at all compatible with Drake’s vocal style, and even when sound reverts back to the minimalistic trap beats, they tend to merely meet expectations rather than exceed them. Meanwhile, ‘Pop Style’, ‘With You’, and ‘Childs Play’ all suffer from disordered and shambolic production which sound like works-in-progress. Of course, with every sweeping statement comes an exception, and in this case it is in the form of ‘Feel No Ways’ – a track with one of Drake’s best beats in years, with syncopated percussion accompanied by a driving synthline. Upon repeated listens of this album, more problems begin to present themselves. The one which is undoubtedly the most detrimental to the album as a whole, in terms of how it will fare in the long term, is the sheer level of dilution that surrounds this LP – for every clever bar delivered by Drake, there’s an entire verse of lazy ones; for every punchy hook, there is two minutes of dull atmospheric cloud-rap either side of it; for every risk taken, there are five filler tracks.

Views is an album with handful of note-worthy tracks, while the rest is too forgettable for its own good, which ultimately results in it being a step back for Drake. Perhaps his throne atop the rap game is up for grabs?