Photo via Remysounds
Last Friday Wheelchair Jimmy from Degrassi released his most anticipated project to date, originally entitled “Views from the 6”, but shortened to just “#Views” upon release. However, those expecting Drake’s Houston influenced trap anthems of late may have come to the wrong part of Toronto with this one. That’s not say “Views” is without bangers because there are plenty, (“9”, “Hype”, “Still Here”, “Controlla”, “One Dance” to name a few) it’s just more of an R&B album. With that being said, you’ll still probably be jamming to Drake this summer as there is a whole side to it that feels specifically like a summertime album and this is intentional.
Drake did something incredibly ambitious with this album in trying to convey the seasonal feel and changes of Toronto as revealed as the theme of the album in his pre-release interview with Zane Lowe. “We really love our summers but we really make our winters work,” he said. “I thought it was very important to do the album here.”
This is evident in the album, with the moody singing Drake we know from Take Care, and Nothing Was The Same. The winter portions are long paralleling the harsh Canadian winter, and with that Drake complains a lot, verging on whiny at times. Whether it be the betrayals he describes on “Keep the Family Close”, or questioning his love life in “Redemption”, Drake will tempt you to call your exes.
On the other hand the summer portion is lit. Drake experiments with Caribbean style sounds on “Controlla” and “One Dance” and it works. Additionally, “Future” returns on the Grammys and reminds us why “What a Time to Be Alive” worked so well as Drake raps about being in the “Matrix”, and “Future” raps about potentially winning a Grammy. I have no doubt these songs (and others) will be dominate the summer radio and club play.
The production on this album is very interesting, once again Drake has paired with his longtime friend and collaborator Noah “40” Shebib and the album truly benefits as a result. Drake is a corny lyricist sometimes, for example on this album he raps about fighting with his girlfriend at the Cheesecake Factory saying: “Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake/you know I love to go there.” These cringeworthy lines are present throughout the album, but masked by 40’s amazing production. 40 has always been ahead of the curb in terms of sound and rhythm and like most Drake albums you’ll probably have to listen to this album multiple times before it resonates, but it will.
If you dislike singing Drake, you might not love this album, but there are still songs here for you. It may not be his best work, but Drake returns his roots and in doing so delivers what will most likely be regarded in the future as a classic.