Drake
"More Life"
(Young Money (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK){)
According to Drake, his 2015 projects, "If You're Reading This, It's Too Late," and "What a Time to Be Alive (with Future)" were "mixtapes." Last year's "Views," by contrast, was an "album." "More Life" is a "playlist."
What's the difference? It has to do with expectation management, and ambition. "Views" spun off several hits and was a massive commercial success, but it disappointed artistically, weighed down by a sense of seriousness and a dearth of featured guests. Because it was an official album, the Toronto rapper, a marketing wiz who keeps his digital-age audience sated with various forms of content, felt the need to carry the creative load on his own.
"More Life" is much looser, more freewheeling. It's got standout guest raps from Young Thug and 2 Chainz, a gorgeous ballad snippet from Brit piano man Sampha, and contributions from UK grime luminaries Skepta and Giggs. It moves further into the Caribbean cultural appropriation game, most effectively on "Blem." (That's Jamaican slang for "really high," and, surprise, surprise, when Drake gets blem, he tells you how he really feels.)
He seems largely over the beef with Meek Mill, though his tossed-off line on "Can't Have Everything" that "(they) tried to serve me up a cheesesteak, I gave them back a clean plate" sounds like a subtle dig at the Philly rapper. That same song ends with a recording of a voicemail from Drake's mother, Sandi Graham, quoting Michelle Obama and admonishing her son about "the confrontation I'm hearing in your tone these days." On "More Life," Drake lightens up and takes Mom's advice, and fun times are had by all.
_Dan DeLuca
