Drake - Nothing Was The Same ALBUM REVIEW

The year is 2009. A 22 year old Canadian born rapper, who most remembered from his acting role in the TV series Degrassi, drops a mixtape in February. So Far Gone. It featured what would become the biggest radio hit in "Best I Ever Had". The mixtape became so popular to the point people considered it to be the best overall hip hop project of the year. I don't know if Drake saw this coming himself, but there is no way anyone could have imagined that Drake would be where he is right now because of that mixtapes success. One can argue that Drake is hip hop's biggest mainstream name today. In both hip hop and R&B. Not since 50 Cent have I seen someones rap career take off in this way due to their mixtape history. In such a short period of time no less. In short, Drake may have done the impossible. Not just the mixtape thing, but taking a style of hip hop never used before and making it popular, despite the criticism and/or jokes he takes because of it. Needless to say, it's very easy to understand why this is the most anticipated release of 2013. His third album Nothing Was The Same. Now let's reflect on the previous two albums first. His 2010 debut Thank Me Later I thought was pretty solid. It felt like a continuation of So Far Gone but much much more radio friendly. But then there's his 2011 sophomore effort Take Care. This is where I became frustrated with Drake. He just let his emotions pour out 100% on that album to the point where I couldn't tolerate it. Too many soft and soothing beats, too much singing etc. Giving off this sad and emotional emo like feel. It over-shadowed the little actual rapping that was on it. Now because of that, my expectations for this album was to hear the same b.s. but much worst.  To my surprise, it wasn't worst. In fact, it's a bit of an upgrade from Take Care. However, I thought the album was pretty decent. Just decent. The singing is still there (to no surprise) and the emotions are still there but not to the extent like it was on Take Care. Now here's my thing about Drake just to clear the air. With three albums in, it's pretty clear now that Drake's music won't see no change anytime soon . It's at a point now where I nor anyone else can judge him or his music on the same level as other rappers. Drake has created his own lane and own style of music and you can only judge it on that. It is a lane that no one else in and Drake is alone. This is something I had to learn to accept over these last few years. He himself understands that he's alone in this music style which is why he owns up to being emotional and being "soft". That's actually the one thing I do respect about Drake is his honesty about his music. With that said, my positives and negatives for this album are pretty even so let's get to it. The album started off pretty good with the intro track "Tuscan Leather". Lyrically this was the best song on the album. It's also where he gets very aggressive with his words as it sounds like he's calling out enemies or all who dares challenge him. Reminding them to not let the soft songs fool you. How ironic he does something like this after that controversial Kendrick Lamar verse. I also like the beat switch ups on this track as well. Which is something he does with the production quite a few times on this album. Seems like he's experimenting with the production. However, while I did like the song, he had this one line regarding Lil Wayne that made me drop my face in my palm quickly: "I'm just as famous as my mentor/but that's still the boss don't get sent for/get hype on tracks and jump in front of a bullet you wasn't meant for/cause you don't really wan't to hear me vent more". I don't know when this dude is gonna realize he is not this person. He did this same thing on "Headlines" from the last album. Trying to threaten people with gun talk. Defending Lil Wayne no less. You are not about that life Drake. No one takes you serious when you talk like that. Stop. The following song "Furthest Thing" was alright. However, this is where his emotional venting begins. The first part of the song is him venting about how he isn't perfect and at the same time expressing anger towards some random girl. But still showing affection towards her. Honestly this track doesn't even get good until the song is damn near over. After 40 again does another beat switch up to something more soulful while Drake spits much better lyrics than the beginning of the track. "From Time" was a cool song and a perfect example of what I'd like to see from Drake. Now here he continues his emotional venting about his ex's. The first verse he's more so reminiscing on a past relationship. While on the second verse he just goes off name dropping a ton of females from his past. Porscha who worked at Treasures, Summer who he was buying Michael Kors for, Bria who he discovered at Beverly Center Macy's, Kourtney from Hooters on P Street and so on. He's basically venting about how none of these girls worked out and how he would have liked it to. But what made this song enjoyable was Jhene Aiko's heavenly voice on the hook. This is what I want from Drake. Get actual R&B singers on your hook instead of doing it yourself because this is definitely the type of song that Drake would normally sing his own hook on. Thank God he didn't. "All Me" is the bonus track that in hindsight is a bad song but I couldn't help but like it. It was kinda catchy. 2 Chainz comes in with his horrible lyrics ("my dick so big it makes the metal detector go off"). Big Sean however was kinda impressive believe it or not. The beat was kinda cool too. But it's definitely a song I wouldn't play continuously. "Pound Cake" featured Jay-Z and because their collaboration was so good on Thank Me Later I was a little hyped to hear this. Turns out it was just average. Jay's verse was so bad . It was just so lazy. Parts of the verse where he could have put lyrics he just fills with ad-libs and stuff like "cake cake cake cake". The beat was very slow and mellow but Drake delivered good enough for the song to at least be average. Okay now I can't even front, a part of me actually likes the second single "Hold On, We're Going Home". It kind of sounds like a re-mastered and much better version of "Find Your Love". It has this throwback 70's funk/disco like beat that's really catchy. The overall sound of it is good to the point where I'm not even bothered by Drake's singing and I normally hate his singing. Well now the fun part....my negatives. Let me first start with what was arguably the worst song on the whole album. "305 To My City". I cannot even explain in words how disastrous this was. Drake has made bad songs in the past but I can't recall him making a song this God awful. First of all, you all know that I loathe repetitive hooks and this had one of the worst one's this year: "I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it". Over and over again. Terrible beat, terrible chopped-n-screwed samples, and piss poor lyrics. This is easily in the top three worst Drake songs of all time. Another song that wasn't as bad but still terrible was "Worst Behavior". I don't even know where to start. First off, why the hell is he yelling? Is he taking the same medication as Meek Mill now? Second, this beat was atrocious. It sounded like too many sounds trying to be blended. The lyrics were just completely horrific and so was the lazy ass hook ("they used to never want to hear us....remember? motherfuckers never loved us....remember?"). This song sounded like something Kanye West scrapped from Yeezus and gave it to Drake as a gift. I can't believe he put garbage songs like these on the album but left off "5 AM In Toronto". Makes no sense. No song confused the hell out of me more than "Wu-Tang Forever". Now at first I thought this would be something creative like him spitting like Wu-Tang on a Wu-Tang like beat. What this was was a R&B ballad that had nothing to do with Wu-Tang what so ever. Why the title then Drake? He must have thought he was doing something cool and unique by sampling Wu-Tang's "It's Yourz", singing about a girl that's telling him "it's yours", and naming it after their classic album. Stupid. Even Inspectah Deck himself Tweeted about how he shouldn't have titled it that because it didn't have nothing to do with them. Failed song and a failed attempt at a concept. I don't know where this sudden Wu-Tang Clan fascination has come from but Drake makes references to them throughout the album. Then it gets worst as the following song "Own It" is a continuation of "Wu-Tang Forever" but the roles are reversed. Now it's Drake telling the girl "it's yours". However, this brought back R&B Take Care Drake which I did not like. This whole little sequence between these two song was so awfully bad and just awkward. I've never really liked the single "Started From The Bottom". I think it's just so lazy and effortless. Lyrics wise and beat wise. It's like all he cared about was making it catchy. Plus it's hard to take that song serious when we all know damn well Drake didn't "start from the bottom". I'm sure he's never seen any kind of struggle growing up in the rich, suburban neighborhood's of Toronto. He was never at "the bottom". I feel like "The Language" could possibly grow on me but right now I'm not feeling it. He used the same fast paced flow he had on "Versace" and still he's taking shots at enemies, haters etc. It seems like he let's these people get to him too much. In closing, Drake still never ceases to amaze me. Continuing his emotional roller coaster over ex girlfriends, anger towards haters, his imperfections and spewing his braggadocios and cocky attitude everywhere. I give this a final grade of a B-. Like I mentioned, one thing I do respect to the fullest about Drake along with his hustle, is his honesty. He doesn't hide the fact that he is over emotional. However, I feel like he shouldn't let it get to him when people call him out on it. If he himself knows he's like this why get mad when someone else says it? He needs to just own up to it when people mention it instead of pouring out frustrations about it through his music. He just overall needs to get all his emotions together. I respect Drake as an artist but I think once he does that, things will run much more smoothly for him and his career. He's already in his own lane with no one else. That's because no one else has the courage to rap and sing about the things he raps and sings about. That is why today, Aubrey Drake Graham is hip hop's biggest star, because he dared to be different. It worked. End. 

Final Grade: B-

CREDITS

Executive Producer

Aubrey Graham

Dwayne Carter

Bryan Williams

Ronald Williams

Lead Artist

Aubrey Graham

Production

Noah Shebib

Jacob Dutton

Noel Fischer

Dacoury Natche

Jason Beck

Majid Al Maskati

Ross Birchard

Matthew Samuels

Allen Ritter

Anderson Hernandez

Sampha Sisay

Paul Jeffries

Jordan Evans

Dwane Weir II

Collaboration

Jhene Chilombo

Majid Al Maskati

Noel Fischer

Shawn Carter

Sean Anderson

Tauheed Epps

Label

OVO Sound/Young Money/Cash Money/Republic

Maybach Music Group - Self Made Vol. 3 ALBUM REVIEW

Remember back in the day when hip hop groups that were also record labels dominated over a certain period of time? Like Death Row and Bad Boy in the mid 90's, Cash Money and Ruff Ryders in the late 90's, Roc-A-Fella and Shady/Aftermath in the early to mid 2000's. Just to name a few. Well now today, it seems Maybach Music Group could be that next group to dominate like the others of the past. Taking Young Money out of the equation, is there really a more fast rising popular rap group right now than MMG? In the last few years Rick Ross has certainly put together an impressive team of MC's. Even though the roster has continuously changed almost every year. The current roster looks like this: Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Wale, Stalley, Gunplay, Omarion, French Montana, Triple C's, Masspike Miles, Magazeen, Teedra Moses, Rockie Fresh, Fat Trel and DJ Scream. As you can see the group has a little bit of everything. Very diverse squad. Well here for the third year in a row they give us another project. Their third compilation album Self Made Vol. 3. I've had the opportunity to listen to the previous two MMG albums and I do believe 2011's Self Made Vol. 1 was the best if I had to pick. Volume two dropped last year and it kind of a bit of a downgrade from the first. Due in large part to the roster change. This time around, nothing really changed besides again, new group members. I thought this album was just as average as last years. When it comes to MMG and their albums you know you're gonna get three things: numerous trap beats, repetitive hooks and lyrics mostly about money and riches (mostly from Rick Ross). While there are catchy songs on here and songs that have huge radio hit potential, it just sounds like I'm listening to the same song over and over minus like two or three tracks. They always fail to fully diversify their sound and experiment. That's something they should consider especially if they gonna keep adding new group members every year. Well now I'll begin with the positives. First off, I really like the tribute on the intro to Lil Snupe who was murdered earlier this year. That was a good look. The stand out track for me has to be "Coupes & Roses". This was a  solo track by Stalley that was very dope. It was very soulful and southern and a definite change of pace from the rest of the albums sound. Easily the best solo track of the album. This is why Stalley is a true stand out in MMG. "Black Grammys" I liked after multiple listens. Thanks mostly in large part to Rockie Fresh and J. Cole. If it wasn't for them this song wouldn't have been as listenable. I didn't like Meek Mill or Wale on this at all. In fact, those two along with Rick Ross really weren't all that great on the entire album. It was mostly the new comers that shined. Namely Rockie Fresh. He had a solo song called "God  Is Great" which was the outro song. I actually found myself liking it after some listens. I also actually think Rockie Fresh is kinda cool. He's the type of rapper most people would expect me to hate but he's not that bad honestly. His flow reminds me a lot of A$AP Rocky. There were two guilty pleasure songs I had. Basically songs that in hindsight are bad songs but I can't help but like them. The first was "Bout That Life". First off I laughed at the beginning skit which was a Ric Flair promo. I'm kind of a wrestling fan so I did find that amusing despite the fact that it probably wasn't necessary to put that. The song itself had a jumpy beat and a very catchy hook that ended up getting stuck in my head for a day. The verses weren't great but it makes for a great song. The second guilty pleasure track was "Stack On My Belt" which is Rick Ross usual trunk blasting, trap beat assisted hood anthems (similar to songs like "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" and "Hold Me Back"). The track also features Wale, Whole Slab and a poor verse from Birdman. Again, a bad song really, but the catchiness of the hook and the beat makes it kinda enjoyable for me. "What Ya Used To" again shows another shining moment for Rockie Fresh. He honestly may have stole the show on this album. This was my favorite beat and hook on the entire album. Yeah he's not lyrical but his flow and charisma stands out strong. "The Great Americans" was another Rick Ross track that featured Gunplay and Fabolous. It was also another change of pace track with a much more relaxed be and much more relaxed flows from everyone. Even Gunplay wasn't that bad here. Well there were some negatives so let's get to them. No matter how much I try to force myself, I just do not like Meek Mill's track "Levels", which is the single. The beat isn't too great and his lyrics were so poor. He focuses too much on energy (yelling) when he raps instead of saying anything that makes some sense. He honestly sounded the worst of anybody on this album. There were back to back songs for the ladies courtesy of Omarion. "Know You Better" which also features Fabolous and Pusha T and "Say Don't Go". Neither one was good. I don't know if it's because I don't really see Omarion as being that good of a singer or if it's the fact that it's still kind of weird seeing him as a member of MMG. Either way, these songs were bad. The beat for "Know You Better" was ok-ish but still that wasn't enough. The album didn't need these tracks let alone two of them. I also tried to force myself to like "Kilo" but that hook....awful. The hook is done by Louie V Gutta and he sounds like a Future impersonator, and you all know I don't like Future's voice at all. On top of that, every single verse was cringe worthy. Meek Mill, French Montana and Yo Gotti. Terrible verse from all three. Meek Mill continues to disappoint on "The Plug" with a change up in his flow that's more awkwardly fast paced. I couldn't even enjoy that song because of that. Well in closing, this is yet again another barely average project from MMG. Same beats, same hooks, same lyrics. I give it a final grade of a C. There is no denying that Maybach Music Group is on top of the mainstream world. This group and it's roster will grow and only get better as the years go on. Despite repetitive tracks, there still hits and that's what will keep them relevant in hip hop. Potentially beginning hip hop's next big record label dynasty. End.

Final Grade: C

The Weeknd - Kiss Land ALBUM REVIEW

There's this little theory I have. In the world of music, there are three types of R&B singers. First there's your more mainstream and/or big hit singers (Beyonce', Rihanna etc.). Then you have the soul singers. Conscious R&B singers if you will (John Legend, Chrisette Michele, Jill Scott etc.). But then you have the crooners. A crooner can be defined many different ways but to me, these are singers (majority are males) who only have the voices and overall sound fitting for romance songs. Legends like Teddy Pendergrass and Al Green are perfect examples of this. Now calm down, I'm not trying to compare The Weeknd to those guys but he definitely fits the title of crooner. Once people heard his voice on Drake's "Crew Love", he was instantly on every ones radar. That same year, he released three critically acclaimed mixtapes in House Of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes Of Silence. Last year he released a compilation album titled Trilogy which featured tracks from all three of those previous projects. All of this further pushed his name out their pulling more listeners in to his music. Well now no more wait. Here is his official debut album Kiss Land. Now all of those previous projects I never got a chance to hear. Not even Trilogy which had his hit "Wicked Games" from earlier this year. So this is my first time listening to a full project from him. After multiple listens, honestly, I don't understand all the hype surrounding him. I thought the album was just below average for me. Now don't get me wrong he's has some talented. At least enough to get him over in mainstream land. But I just don't think this was a strong debut. First off, I'm not really feeling his voice. He just sounds too whiny and hesitant at the same time. To the point where he sounds like he's whimpering. It was quite hard to make out things he was saying because of this. Also, lyrically, on this album at least, he's not all that great. Some of his wording and placement of those words were bad. You add that plus his awkward vocals and it equals an average to bad sound. While women and romance was talked about a lot on here, the album sounded very sad and gloomy. He sounded so depressed, somber and even isolated to the point where he sounded like an emo. Even when talking about women and romancing. Now production wise it wasn't bad. It did fit the tone and made the album sound more theatrical. So that was a plus. Now some stand out tracks. I really don't have any favorite tracks or ones that I liked more than others, but I can point out a song that truly stood out from the others and that was "Wanderlust". This song was far from depressing sounding. It had this really electric funk sounding production. The overall sound of it sounds a bit like 80's Michael Jackson. Weeknd even sounds like MJ on here. The remix, which is featured on the deluxe edition, features Pharrell and sounds more uptempo and party friendly. "Live For" is the first single. Which for me is weird considering that there weren't too many songs on this album I would consider single worthy. This song had the lone guest feature of the album which was Drake. Honestly I've never been more excited to hear a Drake verse. Just to take away from the gloomy emo mood the album was presenting. The song was okay though despite the repetitive hook. "Adaptation" shows his emotions all over the place. He talks about a serious addiction. To a chick that is. On the hook he says "I'm adapted to the model whose adapted to a bottle/they take it down like water just to burn away their sorrow". Apparently it's a chick going through the same depressing emotions as him. An okay song after a few listens. "Belong To The World" had this strange erratic beat that kind of sounds like something from Kanye's Yeezus album. Again, another song that's just okay to me. Now on to my dislikes. First off, majority of these songs were way too long. Which is a huge issue considering how his voice is. "Adaptation" was four minutes and forty four seconds but seemed longer than that because of The Weeknd's dreary and dragged out vocals. The rest of the tracks were five to seven minutes long. Tracks in the middle like "Kiss Land", "Pretty" and "Tears In The Rain" were all incredibly long and it made it hard for me to listen to. Not only because of that but these were songs where Weeknd, because of that voice, makes it hard for me to understand and take away the things he talks about. It was really hard to stay awake during those three tracks too. The intro "Professional" was a tough pill to swallow as well. Another long six minute track, the hook on this was really bad. The echoing sound effect on the words were terrible and just really made things go left. This had potential to be a better song had it not been for that poor hook. The outro track "Odd Look" had a dope vintage 70's sounding production but his vocals were so bad on it that's it hard to enjoy it. Also once again it was hard to make out the things being said. Good beat, but an overall bad song. Well in closing, this album kind of disappointed me. With all his hype I would have expected a stellar project. I give it a final grade of a  C-. I do believe The Weeknd has the talent. I also believe he'll be around for a while. But vocally and lyrically he needs to develop. R&B needs more crooners like this. This style of R&B has been missing a while and maybe, after some development of course, The Weeknd can lead the charge in bringing it back. I believe he can. End.

Final Grade: C-

2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: #MeTime ALBUM REVIEW

If all it took, this whole time, was a simple name change to gain instant popularity then 2 Chainz probably would have done it a long time ago. Formerly known as Tity Boi, his new found fame makes it hard for most people to believe he's been doing this for little over a decade. Though he has had a bit of success and been apart of a couple of hits in the past (like Playaz Circle "Duffle Bag Boy" for example), it was clear that 2 Chainz had the style and presence to be better off as a solo act. Last year showed just how true that is as he probably had the biggest year of any rapper. Now let's see if the sophomore slump comes into play here on his second album Based On A T.R.U. Story II: #MeTime. Before I begin I gotta get this out of the way. Obviously, 2 Chainz is in no way, shape or form a lyricist. In fact, some would argue he has the worst lyrics in rap today. Most of his rhymes are so lame to the point where I actually find it hilarious and amusing. Which is why I say 2 Chainz is the one artist in hip hop today that I consider a guilty pleasure for me. Despite his atrocious lyrics and generic song content, I actually get a lot of enjoyment out of his music. It's entertaining to listen to his terrible yet funny rhymes. Now his last album, his debut Based On A T.R.U. Story, was just barely average for me. Again it was poor lyrically and most of the production was repetitive and generic. I figured much wouldn't change in the lyrics department but I had hoped this time around he changed something production and content wise. Turns out he did...a little bit. For me this album was just a slight bit better than last year's debut. He definitely stepped it up production wise. The beats are trap beats mostly but they sound more menacing and orchestral. Lots of organ, bells and guitar assisted beats. Lyrics wise I already spoke on and it should be obvious. However, this time around a lot of his lyrics were more toned down from over the top ridiculous to just simply shaking your head and chuckling ridiculous (for fun anyway, I listed some notable silly lines from the album below this review). Well now let's begin with what I did like. I already mentioned the production on here was much better and by far my favorite production and song on here was "Black Unicorn". This song stood out for so many good reasons. It has this very soulful heavy violin assisted beat that brings the true emotion out of the song. Chrisette Michelle delivers an incredible spoken word poetic verse in the beginning and brings a very soothing and soulful hook singing. The song is then followed by a very heartwarming singing verse from a young child (Sunni Anderson I'm guessing?). This was definitely the stand out track for me. Believe it or not, I actually like the single "Feds Watching". The hook is catchy (which is the case for many songs on here) and the beat has this island/paradise feel to it. Especially with the drums in the beginning. Well done by Pharrell. Of the many songs with trap beats, the best was "U Da Realest". I love how the bass is much deeper in this track than the other trap produced songs. Originally I thought this was a dedication to a friend or something but after a few listens that wasn't the case. He's calling himself the realest. He's quite full of himself throughout this whole album. "Beautiful Pain" has a chance to grow on me. I actually thought 2 Chainz best flow came on this song. It wasn't bad. Honestly. Lloyd was okay on here but I wasn't feeling Mase on it though. In fact I don't think the song needed him. It's hard trying to take 2 Chainz serious when he tries to rap about something deep like this track but this one might grow on me. "I Do It" is the second single that features Drake and Lil Wayne. I actually found this one to be not bad too. The beat was very uptempo and reminded me a bit of Young Jeezy's "Who Dat". Drake verse was okay and believe it or not, for the first time in a while Lil Wayne was actually tolerable to listen to this time. I even like how Drake's verse merges into Lil Wayne's forming one whole verse. It's a okay song but I'm sure I'll hate it later down the road after the radio plays it to death. Now...the dislikes. No matter how much I tried to force myself to like it, I could not get with the last track "Outroduction". Just like on "Beautiful Pain", it is extremely hard to take 2 Chainz serious when he's trying to be deep and introspective. I'm so used to him rapping like a cornball about a bunch of nonsense. He tried to deliver a message talking about how he gets profiled more now than he did when he was hustling. If this came from someone else I could relate but when it comes from 2 Chainz it's just not that moving at all. "Used 2" was just all kinds of wrong. Here he channels his inner Juvenile, rapping like him, and does it horribly (the flow he had on "Back That Ass Up" when he ended every line with "yeah". 2 Chainz did the same thing.). The irony of it all is that Mannie Fresh produced the track and gave it that vintage late 90's Hot Boys/Cash Money sound. Even though the beat was good, it wasn't enough to save this song thanks to 2 Chainz terrible Juvenile impression. Then there's the song "Netflix" which even before playing I suspected would be coonery. He raps about the joy of making a sex tape and putting it on Netflix. I couldn't do nothing but laugh when I heard that hook. Surprisingly Fergie is on this track and that's something else I didn't agree. Nothing against her but I'm honestly surprised he didn't get Nicki Minaj for this track. This seems like something right up her alley. But whatever. This wasn't a good song for me. All the ratchets and strippers will rejoice over the track "Mainstream Ratchet". Well I'm neither and I didn't enjoy this at all. Apparently he thinks ratchetness going mainstream is a good thing. It's not. The strip clubs will love it but I can do without it. Overall this album was just average. An upgrade in production but same silly lyrics. Not too crazy though. I give it a final grade of a C. It seems to me no other rapper in hip hop is having more fun than 2 Chainz. You can tell through his music. Even when he spits his not so lyrical lyrics it sometimes sounds like he purposely does it for fun. That's the one thing about him that makes a part of me a fan. The entertainment he brings. You'll shake your head to his lyrics but no matter what you'll be laughing and will be entertained. That's guaranteed. Truuuu! End.

Final Grade: C

Notable hilarious lyrics

"I got Medusa on my sneakers/my dick up like nice to meet ya"

"I drink red bitches I don't drink redbulls"

"Yo lyin ass/codine in my wine glass/I know you had a wild past/I ain't fuck you in a while with your wild ass"

"I'm working this iPhone they need an app called iTrap"

"Bust a nut on a tell her that's a load off"

"I'm rich like Lionel/I get head like Rhino"

"I'ma kill the pussy, pallbearer"

"Shawty on my dic-a/backwards spells acid"

"Dirty ass niggas we'll sell you a key of soap"

"Crib so big a dinosaur could run through that shit/I'm a shark and you're a tuna fish"