As the most successful contemporary rap artist in the world, a precedent has been set for Drake, over the past few years, to repeat the success and style of his top hits. From Views in 2016 to More Life in 2017 and then Scorpion in 2018, he managed to smash through the billion listens mark on Spotify over an array of tracks on three successive albums. However, on his latest release Honestly, Nevermind, he seems to be showing some shrinking pains.
Honestly, Nevermind is a dramatic shift away from the very comfortable Pop Rap style that listeners expect from Drake as he embarks on his experiment into the worlds of house and dance music. From the start of the album, he transitions smoothly from the intro into the first song Falling Back, a pulsating, melancholic dance beat which makes a quick move away from his familiar autotuned rap to longer, more airy vocals which hold for the duration of the track. This vocal change-up is significant to the overall intent of the album, and from here on it’s clear that the LP was never meant to be topping the charts with each of its tracks, many of which certainly are not memorable. Even the most devout Drake fans could be forgiven for being unable to distinguish songs like Currents, Massive, and Calling My Name from one another.
Despite this, as with every Drake album to this point, there are still standout songs. The 21 Savage collaboration titled Jimmy Cooks sees a catchy, bouncy first half led by Drake followed by a mid-way breakdown into a harder, more bitey 21 Savage verse. This style rings true to other legendary collaborations like the 2018 single King’s Dead between Kendrick Lamar and Future.
A surprise release can never truly disappoint fans as there is no real hype leading up to it. Fellow rap superstar Kanye West recently discovered that overhyping an album and announcing several consecutive release dates can set fan expectations unrealistically high, meaning the finished album will always underperform. Honestly, Nevermind’s two biggest saviours are that fans didn’t expect the release in the first place, and that Drake throws so much different music at the wall that some of it inevitably sticks.
Rating: 6/10
