Not quite an album, not quite a mix tape, Toronto’s golden boy can’t stop and won’t stop
More Life is a collection of Drake’s favourite sounds and artists coupled with traditional “Drake-ian” muses on relationships, professionalism, and the industry.
Coming off of the repetitive and redundant VIEWS, Drake’s newest release makes for a diverse and dynamic listen. This is Drake at his best: every song—including the single “Fake Love” which has been in everyone’s rotation for months—resists the skip button. The album also has a face-melting 22-song tracklist which stretches the length of some feature films at 81 minutes.
Drake’s More Life is not an album, it is a playlist showcasing Drake’s favourite sounds and artists. He does not put himself in the forefront, he uses the playlist format to let British artists like Skepta and Sampha stand alone on “Skepta Interlude” and “4422” respectively. Not to mention a strong duet performance from rising U.K. singer Jorja Smith and Drake on “Get It Together.”
This “playlist” format strengthens the front-to-back listen through. Every transition between songs and interludes are spotlessly clean thanks to the mixing of Drake’s production team. The feature-heavy direction gives new breath and relief to that traditional “Drake-ian” sound that was claustrophobic on VIEWS.
Songs like “Portland” and “Sacrifices” give listeners Quavo and Travis Scott, as well as 2 Chainz and Young Thug, in their own respective elements. Stylistically, through production and airtime, these songs sound like Drake is the feature. By having a more subtle presence throughout his album, Drake has found the perfect balance between curator and creator. It is not Drake in the spotlight for More Life, it is his palate. “Glow” is a small taste of the much-anticipated Drake and Kanye collaborative project for which we are all praying. If their project is released and it sounds like “Glow,” it will be an instant classic. The track follows a “Watch the Throne” formula of trading bar for bar: Kanye raps then Drake sings and we go back and forth. The production has an 808s and Heartbreak minimalism that’s coupled with the Kanye-stapled soul-sampling to ride out the track.
More Life keeps true to Drake’s minimalistic style that brought the global market to Toronto, but the sounds are balanced with different influences. Jazz, soul, and dancehall sounds can be found throughout the album, and differing flows from Toronto (Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR) to South London (Skepta and Giggs) to Atlanta (Young Thug and Quavo) give the album diversity in both rapping elements and production.
Drake is not a traditional conceptualist when composing his albums. He does not create a cohesive narrative that builds, develops, and deconstructs like Kendrick or Nas, nor does he create carefully curated albums with distinct sounds like Kanye. Nonetheless, you can’t deny Drake’s innovation and consistency in what he does best—making club-situated and summer-ready polished pieces. “Passionfruit” and “Get It Together” are staple dancehall influenced tracks that will top charts and remain in a DJ’s rotations for months.
More Life’s playlist-album hybrid redefines how an artist can be cohesive in a singular project. The atmospheric transitions lets the album move and breathe at a constant pace without the need to turn to the cerebral. It’s all feeling, all production, all sound. Running a radio show week after week has certainly influenced Drake and his OVO team for the better. Six, six, six, six, six, six.
Photo courtesy.