More Life
Drake
Recommended for:
People who like every other Drake song
Banger junkies
Pros:
Bangers are indeed present on here
Sampha is on it
Much less boring than Views
Cons:
No growth from last project
Much longer than it needs to be
More dancehall
Drake tries to be Jamaican
Drake also tries to be English
An introduction for Drake is not really necessary at this point. Rap superstar Drake has become a household name, producing pure commercial gold with everything he touches. His chart-topping, record-breaking album Views confirms this. Drake has now released his new “playlist” More Life. This project comes just 11 months after Views came out. Features on More Life include Sampha, Travis Scott, Quavo, 2 Chainz, Kanye West, and Giggs.
Nai Palm, singer of the (amazing) Neo-soul group Hiatus Kaiyote, kicks off More Life with a sample of their song “Building a Ladder.” Not a bad start. Interrupting Nai is a sound bit of Drake that reoccurs throughout the “playlist,” stating, “More chune for your headtop, so watch how you speak on my name…” More Life proves to be better than its preceding album by far within the first few songs of it. Although, Drake would have to try awfully hard to make something as lackluster as Views was, in my humble opinion. While this album is a step up from Views, Drake unfortunately cannot help but provide us with some cringe-worthy moments and some sleepers.
One thing More Life has that Views was sorely missing was the bangers. More Life is not chalk full of them, but Drake has mercifully granted us some of the best heat that he has put out in a while. Songs like “Free Smoke,” “Gyalchester,” and “Portland” display Drake in his tip top shape. Drake provides some slick lines like in “Gylachester,” where Drake shuts down all talk of where he is on the top five saying, “I know I said top five, but I’m top two and I’m not two and I got one, Thought you had one, but it’s not one.” These songs also have undeniably catchy and memorable hooks (Free shmoke free shmoke).
For the most part, everything good about this playlist stops at there. Drake still throws dreadfully boring and unimpressive dancehall joints at us that are bound to get way more attention than they deserve, such as “Passionfruit” and “Get It Together.” However, “Passionfruit” had a chance to be good. The vocal melodies that Drake lays down are not bad. They are certainly more impressive and less stupidly simple as songs like “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling.” Even the beat is very nice, vibey, and full of life. Yet, Drake still catapults the song into bland mediocrity with his terribly monotone, unemotional, auto-tuned voice. For the love of God, Drake, if you want to have a song that requires singing, fucking SING. Drake singing with his autotuned, one octave range voice is the diet soda of singing. It’s not nearly as good as people actually singing with vocal talent, yet it’s still inexplicably popular.
The performances coming from the features on this project are a mixed bag. Some artists like Travis Scott, Quavo, and 2 Chainz are able to contribute well to the songs they’re in. Quavo and Travis Scott are even able to make the song “Portland” a highlight from this project. Then there are artists like Giggs and Kanye. Giggs’s verse on “No Long Talk” is fairly unimpressive to say the least. Ending each line with “somethin’” does not mean that the lines are rhyming. Also, I understand Giggs is very British, but some of his bars on here sound like he’s not even trying to sound like he’s speaking English. Take the last line of his verse for example, which is supposed to read “Man gone Hollywood, it’s like I’m Buck or somethin’.” However, when listened to, it sounds along the lines of “jaibfliaksdiuadvoa;idnvka or somethin’.” Kanye and Drake’s song “Glow” is a complete dud as well. Bland beat, completely uninspired verses and hook, it sounds like a very minimal amount of effort went into this song, which is a shame.
There is one great feature that comes from Sampha on “4422.” However, there is something peculiar about this song. Drake has absolutely nothing to do with this song. He is nowhere on the song, has no writing credits, not even any production credits on this song. And the saddest part is, this is probably my favorite song on More Life. Why this song is included on here, I have no clue, but when a song that has nothing to do with Drake is arguably the best song on a Drake playlist, something might be wrong.
There’s one last bone to pick with Drake’s More Life. I never want to hear Drake say “tings” ever again. Drake is not Jamaican, faking a Jamaican accent does not make him more Jamaican, nor does it add anything to his music. “Things,” Drake, say “things.”
To end on a more positive note, there are many flaws to this group of songs, but it is still better than Views, and that’s worth celebrating. Sampha delivers some soul on “4422” and songs like “Gylachester,” “Free Smoke,” and “Portland” are bound to be hyping people up for months to come.
Favorite songs: “4422,” “Gylachester,” “Free Smoke”
3.9/10
