Let’s take a trip up North to where it all began for Aubrey Drake Graham. He told us to Thank Me Later then afterwards told us to Take Care. He wanted us to know Nothing Was the Same and showed us his Views. Now we are about to get More Life with the Canadian rapper as his fifth studio album releases this year.
Drake wasn’t all rap all the time. After playing Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation, he quickly switched career paths and focused on rapping. Five albums later and Drake is now a household name.
Drake is known for giving his fans a lot of personality through his music. For example, his 2016 song Hotline Bling brought out a curious, yet fun and joyful dancing side of Drake. His albums give us a taste of R&B with the soulful sounds of slow instruments orchestrated by his gentle, yet calming voice.
On October 29 of last year, Drake (also known as Drizzy to many fans) released three songs off his upcoming album More Life. With the release of “Fake Love,” earning Drake his 18th number one song on Billboard charts, he gives us his honest opinion about the people around him. Although many people are fans of Drake, he displays, through his sweet and rhythmic tone, there are people around him who are taking advantage of his success.
Drake is not shy to call out his fellow rap acquaintances. He showed us that all Summer Sixteen when he had a Back to Back battle with Meek Mill.
In his two other songs, Drake switches gears and raps. He rhymes and stirs up a previous feud with fellow rappers in the song “Two birds, One Stone,” which sparked a little more controversy than “Fake Love.” He strikes back at rappers Meek Mill and Pusha T, who are the birds (ex-drugdealers) and Kid Cudi the stone (who is known for smoking a lot of weed a.k.a a stoner).
However, “Two Birds, One Stone” isn’t all about being aggressive towards other rappers. The unique beat produced by Kanye West and friend Noah “40” Shebib carries Drizzy’s vocals as he thanks God for his success and gives praise to his mentor Lil Wayne. 40 is also from Toronto and he has been producing songs with Drake since the beginning of his career.
“Sneakin” was also released alongside the other two songs and it features 24-year-old Atlanta rapper 21 Savage. This song is produced by London On Da Track, who said the first instrument he used to start the song was a guitar and describes as “horror sounding.”
This song tells the story about how Drake still manages to come out on top and continues to sell more records each year despite the difficulties with rap acquaintances. Drake has been in a variety of alleged feuds throughout the years with other singers and rappers, however, any line Drake raps or sings can be about anyone or anything.
Drizzy continues to break history, being the first Canadian rapper to go platinum in the U.S. Drake is also the most streamed artist of 2016 on Spotify after his hit “One Dance” reached one billion streams.
His 56-show Summer Sixteen tour of 2016 alongside rapper Future is the highest grossing hip-hop tour of all time.
Every summer Drake comes back to his home town of Toronto performing in his annual OVO Fest, where he has brought out famous artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, just to name a few. Drake has put Toronto on the map, branding the city’s nickname as “The 6” due to the area code (416).
As for More Life, the three songs Drake released have received a lot of attention from the media therefore the fans just can’t wait. Drizzy’s heavy beats and energetic rhymes give us a great taste of what is to come.
All we can do is patiently wait for the rest of the songs on the album while Drake is overseas on his Boy Meets World tour.
It is safe to say that More Life is one of the most anticipated albums of 2017.
