Is Drake the least nicest Canadian? Probably not, but on his latest fully-loaded double album Scorpion , there’s 90 minutes of the hip hop/R&B artist baring his soul to the world about what feels like too many things, but also the same old topics.
Easily the most listened to rapper and singer right now, Drake has never stayed out of the news – whether it’s relationships or his softie, heartache-filled songs like ‘Hotline Bling’.
With Scorpion , he’s already broken several streaming and charting records. Last heard, seven of 25 tracks were in the Billboard Top 100. He’s captured a sound that’s accessible but with stories that are essentially gripping and heavy on the references. Most of Side A – 12 tracks that showcase his chops as a rapper – includes songs about his beef with rapper Pusha T, addressing the fact that he hid from the world that he was a father and even the murder of XXXtentacion. Songs like ‘God’s Plan’ added a bit of tenderness, but it clearly doesn’t balance the power trip that Drake is on, lording over tracks like ‘Emotionless’, ‘8 Out of 10’, ‘Mob Ties’ and ‘Sandra’s Rose’ (which is only half-boastful considering it’s about his relationship with his mother). He invites rap moghul Jay-Z on ‘Talk Up’, perhaps putting a long-running rivalry to an end, while addressing success and money.
On Side B, Drake turns to trap beats and slows down the tempo to let his soulful side take over, but then again, it’s more posturing about women, relationships and all the games people play in between. It almost seems childish to hear about following and unfollowing (‘Summer Games’), but Drake makes perhaps relatable in the social media age of high drama. Even here, he calls on veteran names like Lauryn Hill (‘Nice For What’, which celebrates but also objectifies women) and then goes beyond to use a Michael Jackson sample on ‘Don’t Matter To Me’, which is at best half-baked. Sensual and risqué (‘After Dark’, ‘Final Fantasy’), Drake closes with a more serious ‘March 14’, rounding back to acknowledging fatherhood.
October’s Very Own (as he’s called), Drake is contrasting and somewhat erratic on Scorpion , but it’s for a certain kind of listener who perhaps enjoys the drama of his life and feels inclined to stay updated, being rewarded with some catchy but rarely intelligent rap.
