I should’ve reviewed this project when it dropped, but it’s 22 tracks long, so I’ve been stalling this whole time. However, Drake’s been teasing his upcoming album Scorpion, so I figured I’d check this out just so I’d have some background to compare it to when it finally drops. This project was released on March 18th in 2017. Drake referred to this glorified digital album as a “playlist” for marketing purposes. I’m assuming it all flows together nicely as a result. I like when albums have smooth transitions. Anyway, I’m actually expecting this to be dope. I’ve only heard the third single, but I really liked it.
Free Smoke produced by Boi-1da, Allen Ritter & Akira Woodgrain
No Long Talk featuring Giggs produced by Murda Beatz & CuBeatz
Passion Fruit produced by Nana Rogues
Get It Together featuring Black Coffee & Jorja Smith produced by Nineteen85, 40 & Stwo
Madiba Riddim produced by Frank Dukes, Nineteen85 & Charlie Handsome
Blem produced by T-Minus & Frank Dukes
4422 performed by Sampha produced by FrancisGotHeat
Gyalchester produced by iBeatz
Skepta Interlude produced by Nana Rogues
Portland featuring Quavo & Travis Scott produced by Murda Beatz & CuBeatz
Sacrifices featuring 2 Chainz & Young Thug produced by T-Minus & Deejae
Nothings Into Somethings produced by G. Ry, Wallis Lane & Nabeyin
Teenage Fever produced by Hagler
KMT featuring Giggs produced by Ness & Chef Pasquale
Lose You produced by 40 & Stwo
Can’t Have Everything produced by Jazzfeezy & Samson
Glow featuring Kanye West produced by 40, Kanye West & Noah Goldstein
Since Way Back featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR produced by G.Ry, PARTYNEXTDOOR, 40, M3rge & Top FLR
Fake Love produced by Vinylz & Frank Dukes
Ice Melts featuring Young Thug produced by Supah Mario & S1
Do Not Disturb produced by Boi-1da, Allen Ritter & 40
The production on track 1 is awesome. I love the way it starts off with the sample, and then transitions into a hard Trap beat. The hook is catchy as fuck. Drake’s flow is pretty nice. I don’t have much to say about the song. I do enjoy it quite a bit though. There’s not really anything I dislike about it. It’s dope af. The beat on No Long Talk is fucking great. The fake patois from Drake is corny as fuck. I don’t need to hear him talking about “tings.” The verse from Giggs was decent I guess. I didn’t really understand a lot of the lingo since I’m not from London. It kinda just reminded me of Man’s Not Hot. I know that song came out later though. It’s a decent track. It’s not as hard hitting as Free Smoke, but I still enjoyed it. It’s dope. Kinda…
Passion Fruit is dope af. I love the production from Nana Rogues and Drake’s vocals are smooth as hell. It’s a really catchy track. The Jorja Smith sample in the Jorja interlude is really nice. 40 is a hell of a producer. The verse from Drake is alright. The song is really short. I guess it is just an interlude at the end of the day. It lacks replay value, but it isn’t bad. I don’t really like the production on Get It Together, but Jorja Smith’s vocals are nice. It actually sounds pretty good when the piano elements come in too. I’m not familiar with Black Coffee, and I’m not really sure what they contributed to the song. It’s not for me, but it’s a decent track. I also wasn’t crazy about the Madiba Riddim. I’m a Hip Hop fan, so I don’t really care for the World influences Drake puts in his R&B. Apparently “blem” is slang for “high on marijuana.” I’m not really sure where that term is used.
I’m blem for real
I might just say how I feel
Meh… The song is kinda boring to me. I’m a huge Sampha fan, so 4422 was good to hear, even though I wasn’t crazy about the heavy production. I don’t think I’ll be returning to it in the future though. It lacks replay value for me. It transitions really nicely into Gyalchester, which is a portmanteau of “gyal” and Manchester. It thankfully returns back to the Trap inspired Hip Hop sound of Free Smoke & No Long Talk. The first verse from Drake is lazy as fuck. His flow is super boring.
I don’t take naps
Me and the money are way too attached to go and do that
Struggle bars. The production on the Skepta Interlude is really nice. I haven’t really gotten into Grime. To me it just sounds like regular Rap music, but performed by British people. I know it has something to do with the BPM too though. It’s a decent interlude, but, again, there’s little to no replay value. The production on Portland is nothing special, but I liked Drake’s flow on the first verse. The hook from Quavo did nothing for me. His verse was average. Travis Scott’s verse was a nice change of pace. The instrumental gets old pretty quickly. It’s a decent song with zero replay value. The beat on Sacrifices is pretty dope. The first verse from Drake isn’t bad. 2 Chainz & Young Thug had dope verses too. I kinda wish they didn’t all use such similar flows, but the differences in their vocal performances kept things interesting. Young Thug stood out the most to me. I’m not crazy about the muffled production on Nothings Into Somethings. I’m not really into that whole Alternative R&B sound popularized by artists like The Weeknd & PARTYNEXTDOOR. Teenage Fever is a lot better in my opinion. Drake’s vocals are far more impressive on that song. I liked the way he sampled Jennifer Lopez for the hook too, and the dark production is fantastic. The beat from Ness & Chef Pasquale on KMT was dope af. I’m not feelin’ the way Drake jacked XXXTENTACION’s flow from Look At Me! though. Giggs’ verse was wack af.
You already know I love them breasts lookin’ all perky.
The beat on Lose You was kinda cool. Drake was rapping pretty well too. I don’t know though… Something about the song just lost me. Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Anyway, the production on Can’t Have Everything was dope af, and I liked Drake’s flow a lot too. Especially on the first verse. It got kinda sloppy on the second verse. He came back around for verse three though. It’s a dope song.
The beat on Glow is really dope. Drake sang his ass off, and Kanye did his thing as well. I like the way they were kinda trading verses. The way the production switched up at the end was fantastic. I love the more soulful direction it took. PARTYNEXTDOOR’s vocals on Since Way Back were pretty bad, and the production is really boring too. The way it switches up after about 3 minutes and 30 seconds is actually really cool though. It’s just not a song I’d ever wanna listen to again. It’s boring as hell. Fake Love is nice. I like the production a lot, and the hook is dope. This is the kind of R&B I want from Drake; not that fake patois shit, and not that mind-numbingly boring Alternative R&B. With that said, I’m not feelin’ the hook from Young Thug on Ice Melts. The production is decent. It’s just another average song to me honestly. The production on Do Not Disturb is really nice. It’s definitely one of the best songs on the album. It’s just one long “stream of consciousness” verse over a sample based beat. It’s dope.
My life is centered ’round competition and currency
Takin’ summer off, ’cause they tell me I need recovery
Maybe gettin’ back to my regular life will humble me
I’ll be back in 2018 to give you the summary
This album is kinda bad. I mean, I guess it’s mediocre. It’s just way too fucking long. To be fair, it is a “playlist” after all, so the long length kinda makes sense. It’s a good mixture of all Drake’s different styles. There’s at least one song for everybody here, but overall More Life is an unfocused mess.
Favorite Song: Free Smoke
Least Favorite Song: Nothings Into Somethings
D
Watch the video below for more thoughts on this “playlist.”
Focus Hip Hop 