Oh dear. Yet another Drake album, which is hackneyed, hits the top spot? Seriously, what are people listening to? Once again, it is shite. The biggest surprise was that ‘8am in Charlotte’ had no autotune to spoil it like the rest of the record, so I enjoyed that once I got over the shock.
Song recommendations: ‘8am in Charlotte’
1/10
Well, last week, as you know, I reviewed Kanye West’s “Donda”, and as you know, I wasn’t all that impressed. I have no idea how long this review will be because I wasn’t impressed with Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” either. Once again, Drake can’t help himself when utilising autotune. God, I despise that software. Like I have stressed on many occasions, if you can’t sing, don’t try to cheat with that software because you sound worse using it. Drake’s latest album had plenty of potential until some collaborators ruined it with autotune. Drake can go deep with his lyrics as he did on ‘Champagne Poetry’, ‘7am on Bridle Path’ and ‘the Remorse’. Those are the only tracks I liked with Drake on them and no pathetic autotune in sight. My favourite was ‘Yebba’s Heartbreak’ featuring, funnily enough, Yebba on vocals over a soft piano. I first saw Yebba Smith on Later…with Jools Holland in the autumn of 2019 on a Mark Ronson track. Mark has sung her praises for quite a while, and it was great to hear her on this record. It was my favourite because of her strong vocals, and Drake left her to it. It’s unusual for an artist/band’s album to only feature on some of their tracks. I can’t continue the review because the record bored me.
Song recommendations: ‘Yebba’s Heartbreak’, ‘Champagne Poetry’, ‘the Remorse’
3/10
Well, where to start? Like Justin Bieber’s review, I will not say much about this piss-poor effort by the world’s most overrated rapper. The only thing I like about Drake is he is an avid follower of the Toronto Raptors. (I’m surprised they won the NBA playoffs when he showed up because he seems to jinx teams and players across all sports when he is in the vicinity.) and Toronto Blue Jays. He has the potential to be a good rapper if he would just fucking stop pissing about with that shit autotune that fucking ruins every tune made (I am starting to get turned off of Reggae, Ragga and Bashment because the majority of artists think it is “great” to use. It fucking sounds awful. I’m glad I grew up in eras where this useless piece of software did not ruin the songs. Well, plug-in, to be exact.) I do not care less what the sales of his records say; he is vastly overrated and can’t even touch the rappers I listen to. I prefer real rap like N.W.A, Public Enemy, Ruff Ryderz, Tha Dogg Pound, Thug Life, Outlawz Immortalz, Ice Cube, Professor Griff, DMX, Kurupt, Big Syke, 2Pac, Nas, Eminem and Black Thought to name some outstanding rappers. What they speak/spoke about was the real shit they saw out on the streets and experienced. Not materialistic things (To an extent, they did, but not too much.) like most of these fake rappers do now.
Everyone was taken aback by this release of demos and other odds and sods when Drake said he planned to release an album later in the year rather than this compilation. I had hoped after the first track that he wouldn’t use that god-awful fucking autotune, but alas, he did, and I ended up skipping track after track because I would rather swim in mud than listen to an album packed with autotune songs. I’m pleased he focused more on what he is good at than singing. The collaborators are a better choice, too.
Although it is fucking an awful compilation, I did like “Chicago Freestyle” for its hook sung by Giveon, who is a new and up-and-coming vocalist (Shame, he used autotune, though.), which shows once again that Drake can still spot talent. The biggest surprise, and the one that’ll leave his fans open-mouthed and disappointed, is the collaboration on “Not You Too” with Chris Brown, who went from a rising RnB star to a villain in an instant when the news broke that he beat Rihanna up when they were dating. There are several blurred lines to the story, but most believe that Chris did it and has no case for innocence. It shows complete disrespect by Drake to the lady he has collaborated with and had a relationship with, and the subject matter of the song doesn’t help as it’s about him being betrayed in a relationship by a woman, which not only shows his ego, but the fact he has Chris Brown on it seems like, this song was really made for Chris to get across his side of the story via a song.
It could also be that Drake is pissed off with her that it didn’t work out, but either way, it is very coarse and in poor taste. Pretty much like the mixtape, which is musically uninspired, poor guest selection and just shit. I will give “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” a rating of two, but even that’s being generous.
2/10
Honest Opinions 