By Jesika Islam || Arts & Leisure Editor
Admittedly, I am one of the few that truly enjoyed Drake’s album Views when it dropped in 2016, with hits like “One Dance,” “Hotline Bling” and “Pop Style” featuring The Throne, comprised of Kanye West and Jay-Z. I thought that the album stayed true to Drake’s pop, R&B, rap roots that has made him so famous. So when “Fake Love” surfaced in October of 2016 I was really excited because the style was different and it felt more heartfelt while still retaining the catchiness that Drake brings to his music.
Fast-forward to March of 2017, after multiple false dates for release, Drake finally drops More Life. It was released by OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. The first thing to know about this collection of music is that it is not an album nor is it a mixtape. According to several reports, Drake did not want it to be as serious as an album, but wanted to satiate his fans between any major drops. So More Life is a playlist: a collection of new music that has a similar vibe. It is an interesting concept and regardless of technical term, More Life broke and surpassed all records. The playlist debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. It also broke all streaming records on Apple Music and Spotify. Clearly, all of Drake’s fans were excited for his playlist.
More Life features Giggs, Black Coffee, Jorja Smith, Sampha, Quavo, Travis Scott, 2Chainz, Young Thug, PartyNextDoor, and Kanye West. Kanye’s feature on Glow was actually foreshadowed earlier with a tweet of a picture of North West in a bathtub with glow sticks and the caption “Glow.” Needless to say, this was a highly anticipated drop.
With all that preface I found the playlist to be highly disappointing. Drake made some bold artistic decisions that I was not happy with. The whole playlist was whiny and saddening, every song about a lost love and his anger or disappointment related to it. There were some good one-liners discussing his past relationships with Jennifer Lopez, an ill-fated rebound after his relationship with Rihanna, and other lines about his obvious global fame. But overall, I only found two songs that made it to my own playlist, “Passionfruit” and “Glow.”
Perhaps I am to hasty and harsh in my decision about More Life, but part of me also believes those who praised More Life praised it because it was a Drake creation. As of right now, More Life is not the best playlist to come out of the industry this year.
Junior Jesika Islam is the Arts & Leisure Editor. Her email is jislam@fandm.edu.