Is Drake Jumping Ship Too?

This past Friday the 13th proved to be a very lucky day for rapper Drake. Having created some substantial buzz for his upcoming studio album, Views From The 6, he surprised fans by dropping an entirely no album – with no notice. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late includes 17 tracks of Drake rapping (and sometimes singing) with the intensity that is more kin to his earlier works. Although he did hint at dropping a mixtape before his next album, few were actually prepared for this move. Sales projections at just over 500,000 copies in just 3 days suggest that fans are buying this new album, mixtape, or whatever you want to call it, by the droves. We haven’t seen a last a minute album release received with such welcoming arms since Beyonce did the same back in 2013 on Friday, December 13th. That album has since gone on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide. Birdman, Cash Money Records label head may be the only one not pleased with Drake’s sudden move. But we’ll get back to that later.

The new mix-album (what I’ll call it for purposes of this review) starts off with a bold, morbid declaration. On “Legend” Drake boasts, “Oh my God, if I die, I’m a legend.” It’s a bold statement, but one that holds truth and validity for an artist who has been one of rap’s royalty for a few years now. This song, as well as “Madonna” awkwardly samples Ginuwine’s “So Anxious”. It’s another nod to Drake’s affinity for 90s music, having also covered or sampled popular tracks from Aaliyah and TLC. He keeps the grimy edge with “Energy”. This song echoes the infectious exhibits of paranoia that made Tupac such a star and takes shots at all of Drake’s enemies, whoever they may be.

Read the full review HERE