Tyler Krenzin
Lantern Staff
More Life, the album that we Drake fans have been waiting for, has finally arrived. Slated for release in late December, disappointment set in as the album never came. There had been rumors that the album was coming every week from January to now, but we no longer must wait. Now that we finally have the album, one question arises: Is it any good?
I am going to be honest; this isn’t the greatest Drake album, but it’s far from the worst (sorry Views). No, this album is different, very different. There isn’t an album in Drake’s collection that has the same worldly influence on it that More Life does. It has everything from the rap styles of London to the slow Caribbean vibe with a South African rhythm. Worldly seem to be the only way to describe it.
There are some obvious throw away songs, but what album doesn’t have at least one of those? These come in the form of “Nothings into Somethings” and “Skepta Interlude.” The best parts of this album come with “Teenage Fever” and “Since Way Back.” These songs come with the slow Caribbean vibe that Drake’s voice seem to meld into. PARTYNEXTDOOR’s feature on “Since Way Back” is one of the stronger on the album, and he pairs well once again with Drake’s voice.
“Teenage Fever” is the best piece, and no other song on the album comes close. If you put this on Take Care, Drake’s Grammy winning album, it would almost seemingly blend in as another perfect slow jam. This, however, isn’t the slow jam catching everyone’s attention. “Passionfruit” comes very close to how good “Teenage Fever” is and is by far the favorite among listeners. However, the instrumental that lasts nearly a minute prevents “Passionfruit” from being more.
With the great slow jams that are a staple nowadays for Drake, comes the club bangers that are more than likely going to show up on your “Turn Up” playlist. Most of these types of songs are the same, and if there was to be a people’s champion on this album would be “Portland,” a song that brings the talents of Quavo and Travis Scott. Both are some of the hottest artists of 2016 and 2017. However, one song is just out of reach of “Portland.” “Sacrifices” doesn’t have the same star power as “Portland,” but is by far better when it comes down to lyricism.
This brings us to the bad, and yes even I must admit that everything isn’t sunshine and roses. Let’s start off with the awful “KMT.” This is by far the worst song on the album, and it isn’t even because of Drake’s part of the song. Giggs, a London based rapper, is by far the worst feature on the album. His dirty style of rapping just doesn’t fit the style that Drake is clearly going for, not only on the album, but the song itself. The sad part about this is that Drake’s part on “KMT” is decent. This was just a song that should have been shelved completely. Another song, “Glow,” seems like an overextended interlude, and let’s just face it, Kanye West has lost it. This almost seems like a Kanye song with a Drake feature, but it’s oddly the other way around. If this is a preview of the album that Kanye and Drake are apparently working on, then we should be far from excited.
Overall, this album falls just short of the expectations that have been set for it. This is far and away from the worst album that Drake has released, but let’s be clear, this isn’t going to win a Grammy anytime soon. More Life earns an eight out of 10. Passing, but Drake, you can do a lot better next time.