Drake spent the decade releasing bodies of work that not only shifted the culture froward but also saw each of his albums grow in terms of commercial and critical success (Drake’s 2010 ‘Thank Me Later’ still holds the record for highest first week sales for a debut album this DECADE in case you were wondering). Drake cemented his superstar status as he became the soloist in Billboard Hot 100 history to have the most entires when he earned his 203rd entry on the chart earlier this year. He also spent 431 weeks on the Hot 100 chart(there are 520 weeks in a decade just to highlight how massive of an achievement that is). He released 5 studio albums, 3 mixtapes, and a compilation album during the 2010’s but the question I ask? Has Drake oversaturated the market and is he still making quality music?
Last summer, Drake released his fifth studio album Scorpion which proceeded the release of its singles ‘God’s Plan’, ‘Nice for What’, and ‘I”m Upset’; the former two both went #1 while the later peaked within the top 10. When the album dropped, the entire TL stayed up until midnight to listen to the album live together as many were excited to see if Drake was going to talk about his son, if he would finally address the Pusha T debacle & most importantly to see which songs of our summer playlists Drake would be making an appearance on. I remember listening to the album and being initially very impressed and blown away but maybe because I was lost in the magic of the moment that Scorpion’s release caused that I didn’t have time to realize Drake actually produced a very underwhelming album. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad album…but it’s not a GREAT album either and that’s a part of the reason it was rightfully snubbed for Album of the Year at the Grammys.
The self-proclaimed ‘6 God’ is reportedly & fittingly hard at work on his sixth studio album which is reported to hit shelves as early as next year. To ensure Drake’s new era is a success we wanted to point out some things we are hoping to hear on his next body of work:
- Length – I get it, we’re in there streaming era so artists want to give us more music than we’ll ever be able to consume (we’re looking at you Chris Brown) and as much as I love hearing what Drake has to say, I believe less is more in this case. An album consisting of 12-14 tracks (16 if you really have some things to get off your chest Aubrey) will suffice, that way you’re ensuring that listening to the album doesn’t feel like a chore for us. Remember, quality > quantity.
- Sound – Scorpion was released as a double disc album that would feature a ‘rap’ side and an ‘R&B’ side but truth be told if you shuffle many songs from that album I wouldn’t be able to tell you which side they belonged to. The production was choppy in many places and the album’s sequencing made no sense at many points throughout it’s duration. One of my other huge problems with Scorpion is that for the most part it sounds like the album is compiled of throwaway tracks from his previous albums which made some of his songs sound very dated and limited replay value. Drake in MY opinion is someone who is afraid not to be #1 that he hops on everything that begins to pick up traction (i.e. Summer Walker, BlocBoy JB) and while the Drake co-sign might be a great way to kick off the careers of new talent I see straight through what Drake is trying to do. Going forward, it would be nice if NWTS Drake made a return because he realized HE was the needle that kept the culture moving and not the other way around.
- Promotion – Drake is notorious for not producing many music videos, a trend he bucked with his last era and many can fairly assume this is a calculated move as the streams from this video extend the chart life of an album and also help these songs sell more units. However, this time around I’d like to see Drake do more traditional promo stops such as Carpool Karaoke, award shows, and working the talk show circuits. Drake normally starts an era and before you can really digest the content, he’s gearing up to drop something else and I feel Drake is largely responsible for so many artists releasing music so frequently. The days of artists working their respective singles and albums may be a thing of the past but we hope Drake makes promotion fun and engaging again in 2020.
- Production – Drake has kept an array of talented producers and cowriters around him since his debut album dropped nearly a decade ago including Party Next Door, Tay Keith & Kanye West. However, this time around we’d love to see Drake have his 6th album’s production spearheaded by hip-hop titans such as Timbaland, Swizz Beatz & The Neptunes. These producers could help Drake reach new heights sonically and give his stake in hip-hop a bit more credibility. If Drake takes our tips in stride, his 2020 and beyond look bright.
The Sounds of Music 