(ThyBlackMan.com) At the moment, Drake is preparing to drop his new album, Certified Lover Boy. While he hasn’t been as active last year as he usually is, he steadily dropped a single or album here and there. One thing that you can be sure of is that whatever he releases will have the highest level of replay value, one of the things that sets Drake head and shoulders above every other artist in hip hop.
Drake’s catalogue of albums is very polarizing. On one side, people either don’t like his singing or rapping skills. On the other, people love that even though he is one of the most popular artists in the world, he is still relatable and open about his life in his music.
- Scorpion (2018)
Even though this is Drake’s most recent album, do not mistake it for being bad because it is at the bottom of the list. In my opinion, he does not have a bad album, only ones that are better than others. The light concept of this album is that since some people only like when he raps, side A is a rapping album. For the people who likes his singing, side B is for them.
The bad thing about this is that it made for an album with twenty-five songs on it. Not that I don’t want to listen to a long Drake album, but there are some songs on the album that could’ve been cut down to around seventeen songs and the album would’ve probably been two or three. Despite this, there are many great songs, both rapping and singing, on the album.
Key Songs: Emotionless, Jaded, Blue Tint
- Views (2016)
After listening to this album as many times as I have, I came to the conclusion that there is only one bad song on this album. Ironically, it’s a song with Rihanna and it’s not her fault. Drake just don’t give a good performance on the song. Also, ironically, one of my best songs on the album don’t even have Drake on it. Summers Over Interlude is a short song that showcases Majid Jordan, an R&B duo that is signed to Drake’s OVO Sound record label.
Despite this flaw, Views is a good album. It suffers from the same problem that Scorpion would have two years after this album released, it is too long. The album is twenty songs long and even though nineteen of those are good songs, at least four of them don’t have the same high quality as the other fifteen. Something else to look out for on this album is that his rapping is very good throughout and other than the song with Rihanna, his singing is good too.
Key Songs: Weston Road Flows, Redemption, One Dance ft. Wizkid & Kyla
- Thank Me Later (2010)
Drake’s major label, debut album had his fanbase divided. I think that Drake made the best decision for his career in picking the direction he wanted to go with this one. Many of his fans did not like this album because it was so different from the sound that he came out with on his mixtapes So Far Gone and Comeback season. Instead of thoughtful backpack bars, Drake went a more mainstream route. He also leaned more on his singing side than his rapping side on a large part of the album.
This made for a slower paced album. At this point in his career, his singing was not as polished as it is now even though it still sounded good. What you are left with is an album that not only his fans can listen to, but an album that the whole world could listen to. It had hits galore, great features, and didn’t overstay it’s welcome.
Key Songs: Up All Night ft. Nicki Minaj, Fancy ft. T.I. & Swizz Beatz, Thank Me Now
- Nothing Was the Same (2013)
When you load up this album, make sure you get the deluxe version so you can get the extra two songs. Unlike Scorpion and Views, this album was not long enough for me. The mood that was set throughout the album seemed like it ended on the right song, yet still had more to give. Even though this isn’t a perfect album, the songs are for the most part all great and it has the best intro and outro combo of any album that he has.
Another good thing about this album is that the features are kept to a minimum. Every feature compliment the song so well. For example, on the song “Too Much” that samples a song from UK singer, Sampha, his verse doesn’t overpower Sampha’s vocals and Sampha’s vocals add to the vibe of the song. This album sounds like he felt like he had something to prove after his last album.
Key Songs: Tuscan Leather, Started From The Bottom, From Time ft. Jhene Aiko
- Take Care (2011)
Like Nothing Was the Same, do yourself a favor and get the deluxe version. This album is Drake’s greatest album. The quality of the songs on this album is through the roof. The rapping on this album is top notch. The singing on this album is some of Drake’s best work. The flow of the album is fluid and he mixes the rapping songs perfectly with the singing songs. On most of the songs, he does both.
The best thing about this album is the whole vibe that this album sets. Listening to Take Care makes you feel like you are Drake in the album cover. This album is full of some of Drake’s best moments and even though it has many hits and songs that are still played today, to me, it is best remembered for the many great album cuts that are some of the most relatable music that I have ever heard.
Key Songs: Headlines, Marvins Room, The Motto ft. Lil Wayne
Staff Writer; Tardell Swift
This brother is new to writing yet has many different interests such as gaming, hip hop, wrestling, and manga.
You can follow him on Twitter; PhirewoodGaming and keep up with his thoughts there as well.
