Drake has one of the most polished careers of any artist. Every project he has released has generated at least one hit. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Drake has dominated both hip-hop and pop music and has an incredibly broad appeal. He can make just about any kind of music that anyone could enjoy. In my opinion, Drake is the antithesis of the belief that by trying to appeal to everyone, you basically appeal to no one. Whether it's rap, R&B, or pop, Drake can nail any type of sound. I don't consider More Life to be my favorite Drake album by any means (I rated it as second worst when I ranked Drake's discography) but the day this project came out was one of my favorite days of 2017. There was snow on the ground even though it was late March and the NCAA Basketball Tournament was in full swing. I originally didn't anticipate this album releasing on Spotify when this album premiered on OVO Sound Radio because he put Views on there a couple weeks after its release date. I had missed the premiere intentionally because I wasn't trying to hear the clean version first. A few minutes after it ended, I saw the album on Drake's page. I lowered the volume of my TV, turned on my Bluetooth speaker, and got ready to experience the album. And then I began what would be a listening experience I would never forget. There was a smorgasbord of sounds in play like rap, pop, dancehall, R&B, and grime. It was some of the most fun I've had listening to an album in a while. Because Scorpion is slated to release tomorrow, I decided to go back to this album.
Positives
Despite the lengthy tracklist and runtime (22 tracks, 81 minutes), there are so many different sounds and influences going on that keeps it interesting. It isn't experimental, but it certainly is unique. The production throughout this album is phenomenal. I consider Drake's rapping to be one of the numerous elements that brought Views down, and the rap tracks on More Life are a step forward. I consider the hip-hop tracks to be more memorable on this album than Views. I also thought that some of Drake's best singing tracks were on this album like "Passionfruit" and "Blem." I also thought he made pretty good use of the all-star features aside from Kanye.
Negatives
Having many sounds doesn't excuse the fact that this album is very long. Like Views, More Life has no idea when to stop and gets carried away all for the precious streams. It was fun to listen to all the way through the first time, but it really isn't meant to be ingested more than once. While there were many R&B songs from Views that I love, I felt like the singing tracks on More Life seemed like a downgrade from the previous album. Also, I hated that Drake called this album a "playlist." I get why since there are many sounds present and that it's longer than a typical album, it's barely any different. I feel like calling this a playlist seems pretentious and makes it out to be more than what it is.
Features
1) Giggs (No Long Talk/KMT) - He was terrible. A lot of people hated the grime rappers on here, but the only one that I hated was Giggs. "No Long Talk" is a bad song, to begin with, but his awful verse on "KMT" straight up ruined the song. How can you compete with these unintentionally hilarious lines about perky breasts that are Christmas gift-wrapped and looking like turkeys or randomly shouting out Batman at the end (DA-NA-NA-DA-NA!).
2) Black Coffee (Get It Together) - His song was sampled and he is credited as a feature. There were no lines from them.
3) Jorja Smith (Jorja Interlude/Get It Together) - I like her voice. She made both of those tracks much better if we're being honest.
4) Sampha (4422) - His vocals sounded pretty good although I found that track to be pretty forgettable.
5) Skepta (Skepta Interlude) - I've been loving Skepta a lot recently based on his features on Playboi Carti's and A$AP Rocky's latest albums and almost forgot he had a track on here. He killed it.
6) Quavo (Portland) - Before Quavo became known as "The Guy Who Will Do Any Verse or Hook As Long As He Gets a Paycheck," he had some fire hooks and verses. "Portland" has one of my favorite Quavo hooks and verses ever. I can't decide whether he or Travis had the better feature. Speaking of which...
7) Travis Scott (Portland) - His contribution was amazing as well. I don't know what it is but he had such great delivery on this verse that even the line "Out in Portland tryna get in her organs" gets me hyped up.
8) 2 Chainz (Sacrifices) - I have yet to hear a bad 2 Chainz feature. He wasn't the best part of this track but he still killed it with his stellar flow.
9) Young Thug (Sacrifices/Ice Melts) - His verse on "Sacrifices" is probably the best Young Thug verse I've ever heard. It sounded different. He didn't go for the usual autotune crooning and used his regular voice instead. It sounded beautiful. His contribution on "Ice Melts" was obviously the weaker one but it's still a good song where Thugger shines.
10) Kanye West (Glow) - Good god, that track was so disappointing. Kanye's singing had improved a lot in recent years, but it sounded obnoxious on this track. He could do so much better.
11) PARTYNEXTDOOR (Since Way Back) - I usually love their songs together, but I wasn't feeling this one as much. For some reason, I love the PND/Drake tracks on Party's albums more than on Drake's.
Singles
There were 3 singles with the More Life cover, but only one made the album. It's a shame that "Sneakin" with 21 Savage didn't make the tracklist. That one was great.
Fake Love - This song kind of feels like "Hotline Bling Part 2" because it sounds so similar, but I don't hate it. I love Drake's melodies and as a Giants fan, I appreciated this line:
"Just when shit look out of reach / I reach back like one, three"
Best Tracks
This section was really hard because I liked so many tracks on this album.
1) Passionfruit - This song is absolutely beautiful. The production on this track is trance-worthy. It feels like I'm being taken to the beach (or a Hollister depending on the day). Drake's melodies on this song are infectious. I just wish the part where the guy says he's gonna "start this muthafuckin record over" wasn't on there. This is, without a doubt, one of Drake's best R&B tracks.
2) Portland (feat. Quavo x Travis Scott) - An absolute banger. I don't consider myself a fan of Murda Beatz's production, but this is one of my favorite beats from him. I think the flutes and the trap drums and bass mix very well. I love Drake's delivery on the first verse even though the way he started it was kind of corny. Quavo's hook and verse are some of his best contributions ever and Travis killed it with his aggressive melodies.
3) Sacrifices (feat. 2 Chainz x Young Thug) - One of my favorite hooks from Drake. 2 Chainz and Young Thug spit some stellar verses, too. Although it's five minutes long, the song is interesting enough that it goes by quickly and it doesn't feel long.
Worst Track
No Long Talk (feat. Giggs) - This song was just bad. The beat is boring, Drake's hook and delivery sounded annoying, and Giggs was just as bad. "Glow" was disappointing but it wasn't as bad as this song.
Conclusion
This isn't anywhere close to Drake's best album, but I enjoy it nonetheless. However, my second full listen was not nearly as fun as the first.
This weekend will include my reviews of the latest music, including Scorpion. Next weekend I will be making and posting my half-year-end lists.
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