Summer has settled in for good and to kick off the season as it should, Drake offers us a surprise album… of house music. The Canadian musician raps and sings as always. But the coating, electro music intended for dance floors, could surprise more than one.
Posted at 12:14 p.m.
Surprise, but inevitably disappoint. Because the exercise is rather welcome. We did not expect this album announced the day before, only nine months later Certified Lover Boy (which we had waited a long time). We certainly didn’t expect this house/dance turn, even if Drake is into pop, even if he has already released albums clearly intended to make us dance all summer long. It’s not a masterpiece, but it doesn’t hurt.
But after the rather lukewarm reception of the previous one, Honestly, Nevermind smells like an attempt at redemption. It really can’t be compared to the rapper-singer’s previous work and it serves him well. This cake is a daring leap, head first, into sounds that Drake had not yet explored and the landing is all in all successful.
Calling My Name, Overdrive Where calling are three of our favorites. downhill, another among the most catchy, brings African tones to the house, in the percussions and choirs of the chorus – remember that house music is originally African-American music, born in Chicago in the 1980s. different reliefs proposed by Drake and the producers who supported him in the creation of this album. The house sound has a very distinctive rhythm, which is found throughout the 53-minute listen. Beatmakers Carnage (Migos), Kid Masterpiece, Black Coffee and 40 (Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys), among others, helped inject R&B, pop or hip-hop flavors into productions.
Let us mention here a reference to Quebec, in a verse of the play Sticky. “Two sprinters to Quebec/Honey, where is my beak? “, he sings. A quick Google search allows us to understand that he is probably referring to “easy girls” when he uses the term “sprinters” (that or the period between winter and spring)… True to form , Drake does not place the woman (apart from his mother) very high in his lyrics. On the text side, moreover, Drake recounts his toxic relationships, those he ruined, his romantic and sexual aspirations. Nothing new.
The room jimmy cooks, with rapper 21 Savage, is the only collaboration and the only track that clashes with the rest. It seems to be added at the end of the album for convenience, because it had to be released, so why not now.
Without being sloppy, Honestly, Nevrmind is far from being the Torontonian’s finest work. We receive it as an interlude, a summer candy while waiting for the next record. One thing, however, sets this album apart: a cohesion such as we had rarely seen in Drake in recent times. Apart from the last song which might not have been there, the work forms a coherent whole, and not built by adding a series of singles which do not really respond to each other.
Thus, some will certainly be disappointed with the content of this new offering. Others will be rather pleasantly surprised. Drake wanted to offer a record that could fit into the summer listens of many, as the album had done Viewspublished in April 2016 – although Views far surpasses Honestly, Nevermind. The Canadian’s music does not fit into any specific box and he uses this latitude wisely here.
Rap, R&B, House
Honestly, Nevermind
drake
Republic Records