WARNING: READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED, EXPLICIT CONTENT
This is obviously a continuation of my previous post reviewing the A Side of Drake’s latest release “Scorpion”. If you have not already, I highly advise you to check out that post first, before reading this one. After taking everyone’s feedback, and reviews of my last post, I will not be posting an in depth track by track analysis, because I personally did not enjoy this half of the album, as much as I did the A side. As noted before, this side of the album contains elements of music that pertain more towards the R&B rather than Rap. Now, without further ado, lets get into the music!
The first three songs are rather boring, and repetitive. “Peak” kicks the album off with a slow and basic beat that only gets worse as the song goes on with ear crenching synthesizers after Drake’s hook. “Summer Games” is by far my least favorite song out of the entire 25-song project. Whenever Drake spits lines like “You said I lead you on but you followed me“…and “How could you be angry on a night in July and be warm with me” , it makes me feel like I could have done a better job writing this song myself. Not even the instrumental on this track could save Drake from his lyricism. The song “Jaded” is not too bad, but it is not too good either, the highlight of this song actually comes from Ty-Dollar $IGNS ad libs. The reason why I grouped the these three songs together is because they are the first three tracks we are given off the B Side, and they all seem to talk about the same thing. In all of these songs Drake reminisces over an old lover that he wish he had back, but in my opinion, we have heard that far too many times from the boy himself. I understand that he is trying to take a different direction from the tone he set on the first side of the album, but I would much rather prefer to see more evolution from my favorite artist.
“Nice For What” was an instant hit after being released in early 2018. The song spent numerous weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Murder Beats played a huge contribution making the instrumental a fun classic hit, where it came easy for Drake to display his lyrical talent over it. The song focuses on how Drizzy is proud of the woman who have their own in life, are and determined and ambitious to keep on moving forward by working hard. This song is not a hit, it is a SMASH!
“Finesse” features a throwback type of vibe that reminds of Drake first project of “So Far Gone”. A dark and gloomy beat can be accompanied by Drake swaying over the melody in a variation of falsetto vocals. Drake clearly sends some shots at Kanye West on this track by saying “Fashion week is more your thing that mine”. Finesse was actually the first NEW song I liked from the B Side, but my mood quickly changed after hearing the following track “Rachet Happy Birthday”. This song is exactly what the title implies…RACHET! After a horrible auto tune performance by Drake, this song would probably be my least favorite if “Summer Games” never existed. This song had no business being on the B side, well let me rephrase that. I guess it serves as a nice transition from the first few tracks after they were “Sadder” songs, but I still do not find this song enjoyable what so ever. If someone plays this track during my birthday party next month, I will be highly UPSET! (No pun intended) I see what Drake was trying to do with this track, he intended to make a new “Happy Birthday” anthem that would bang in the club, but in my eyes he failed. In actuality, many people do in fact enjoy listening to this song, some have even gone as far to say “Rachet Happy Birthday” is their favorite song…but I guess this song does not do it for me.
“Thats How You Feel” includes a Nicki Minaj sample from her freestyle on the show “Wylin Out” which I indeed enjoy, but many others do not. Besides the sample, the track sounds distorted and a bit hard to hear. Initially, I enjoyed listening ti this song, but after further review, it does not have the same effect on me from when I was first listened. “I’m just in the cut sitting siiiddeewaayysss” serves as a fun sing along hook, but the rest of the song is a bit lackluster to me. “Blue Tint” saved the B side, as we are finally exposed to an up tempo beat, and some classic flows by Drake. Drizzy raps and sings in this songs, showing us the best of both worlds on this track, and also displays his versatility as an artist. Even though he is not credited, Future gets in on the action of this song as he sings “Blue faces, got blue diamonds blue tint yeah…”…and that’s it. Literally a guest appearance lol. After the massive success of their collaborative album “What A Time To Be Alive” fans have speculated a revival of the two together in the studio, so this tracks seems like a huge tease to many fans, after Future only spits two bars if you even want to call it that.
“In My Feelings” is currently sitting atop the Billboard at #1 while Gods Plan and Nice For What are at #4 and #6…Drake just keeps coming with the hits! “Keke, do you love me, are you riding?” Can be heard everywhere at any point in time. “In My Feelings” is a great sing along song, that seems to be another one of Drakes smash hits. On social media, we see numbers of people dancing to the song, attempting to go viral, which has caused fans to be more aware of the song itself. I can defiantly see this as a club banger.
Upon the release of Scorpion many speculated the song “Don’t Matter To Me” to be another smash, because the track featured Michael Jackson. Yes, you all read that right, MICHAEL JACKSON! Drake and his camp apparently reached out to Jackson estate, and received permission to sample an unreleased song recorded by MJ. After actually hearing the song, the estate should have kept that song. The hook was sung by Jackson, bu the moment did not feel as big as many anticipated. I feel like the whole song was over hyped. This man Drake has a once and a lifetime opportunity to collaborate with Michael Jackson, and we hear no evolution on the track. Drake came with the same old flows and subject matter he’s been rapping with earlier in the album. Like I stated before, I would love to see some PROGRESSION is Drake’s artistry.
With this being said, the following tracks “After Dark” and “Final Fantasy” feel like records that I have already heard, and were dull and boring to me. The tones of both songs are slow, and can be dubbed as “Baby making music”. Both songs contain a very sexulized Drake, which I personally do not want to hear.
The project finally concludes with the ballad “March 14th”, the moment we have all been waiting for. Drake finally fills us in on information about his son. “Yesterday mornin’ was crazy I had to come to terms with the fact that it’s not a maybe, That shit is in stone, sealed and signed, She is not my lover like Bille Jean, but the kid is mine, Sandi used used to tell all it takes is one time, and all it took was one time, Shit we only met two times, two times, And both times were nothin’ like the new times” Drake also admits he is embarrassed to be a single father because when he was growing up it bothered him not living with both of his parents. Drake also denies the claim that he is a deadbeat dad, saying that he bought an abundance of gifts for his child on Christmas, even though he has only met him once. This track is dedication to his son, and he says that he and his son will “Talk more when he hears this” on the closing lines. It has since been revealed that Drake played this song for Kanye West while helping him write for his album “Ye”, SO this is how Pusha T got the drop on Drake finding out about his alleged son. Drake obviously felt betrayed by Kanye West after he wrote Kanye the most streamed song on his album, and he thought as though Kanye was his brother, so he played the track for him in trust. This now comes full circle, and explains why Drake had an obsession on taking shots at Mr.West during the album. Despite this, Drake still wants Kanye to respond, and released a freestyle directed towards him in the video below.
407 Eagles 