I write to you from the solitude of my Brooklyn apartment, as the throes of late winter bluster outside. Today, I’m thinking about writing about music. I’m often listening to many different albums throughout the weeks. Some, I have a lot to say about, others I don’t (Neither is wholly a good or bad thing). I’d like to get in the habit of sharing my thoughts more often. I like the concept of a field journal; as if I’m reporting on my explorations of the dark corners of some unfounded land. Really though, it’s just letting you know what I’ve listened to & what I’ve enjoyed. What you’ll find in my posts are a collection of reviews: one centerpiece review with a lot of thoughts, and two to three quicker reviews.
Without further ado, here is my first edition of the Field Journal.
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U
by Drake & PartyNextDoor
~ Album Review
A reaction to trauma in early childhood can often look like a regression of behaviors; acting out angrily; fear of the perpetrator of the trauma. As they grow up, a child might internalize this in various ways, becoming a pushover or perhaps becoming extremely guarded. It is with this more psychological understanding that I start to really feel for Drake.
If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not be aware that Drake was in a highly public feud with former collaborator Kendrick Lamar, succumbing to the final blow that was the release of the song “Not Like Us.” Kendrick, known for his storytelling ability had been widely assumed to eke out the win for his superior writing merit… at least in the eyes of the hip-hop listeners. But Drake is an artist known for topping charts… perhaps he might lose the song battle but win in the larger pop culture landscape. But that did not happen. What was at first a loss on one battle field, over the ensuing months has turned into a failure on all fronts. Not Like Us won grammys, broke streaming records, reached #1, become a cultural anthem that expands the cultural cache of America (and frankly the world).
So how does Drake, who went through this most savage and public beat down come back? Comparing his experience to trauma might seem hyperbolic, but I think there is merit in following this train of logic. I'm sure that the drastic depreciation of Drake's public image has taken a toll on him personally, and it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to examine his reaction through a clinical lens. The regressive behaviors, the paranoia, tantrums and petty squabbles (as well as the weaponizing of his victimhood, though rare) are all examples of a typical response to trauma. The difference here is that he is an adult, and his "trauma" did not occur in a vacuum. The paranoia I mentioned has been a staple of his music for almost his whole career (e.g. his song “No Friends in the Industry”, bars like “I got no friends in this, momma”). But it is also a chicken or the egg situation. Was the hate and animosity he experienced within the industry the source of his paranoia? Or has his paranoid behavior contributed to the animosity that he clutches to like a rosary?
All of these behaviors leak into this “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U”, an album oozing with regressive, adolescent views on relationships, and woozy, bland instrumentals recalling early Drake sounds. On this album, Drake pontificates mostly on relationships, as well as his paranoia, but mostly avoids the elephant in the room (save for the song Gimme a Hug). For a man known for his vulnerability, he is very choosy about what he wants to be vulnerable about. He can be vulnerable about a relationship, yet displays little awareness of his own behavior within the relationships beyond his ability to change the life of the nameless women he courts.
Oh by the way, this is a collaborative album! You wouldn’t be able to tell but it is. Drake’s collaborator, PartyNextDoor (PND), is going to be a footnote in this review, because he is a footnote in this album. PND’s presence on this album often gets swallowed up in the ego of his mega-star collaborator. Even when PND appears, he is given lackluster choruses, or poor mixing jobs. His vocals on Mothballs overtake the mix, sounding like he's muffling his vocals through a tube. In spite of his contribution, everyone listening is here for the Drake show.
Musically the album is chock full of jagged and unflattering auto-tune crooning over aimless instrumentals. We’ll occasionally hear interesting flourishes of instrumentation, like on Crying in Chanel, where the tempo picks up. This exciting switch ultimately leads the listener into a no man’s land of flaccid beats and farty synths; as if Drake & PND drop this instrumental like a child is finished with his toy. Most of these instrumentals and performances go in one ear and out the other, at times contributing to a moody vibe that is pleasant, other times feeling painfully drab and overly produced.
Pimmie's Dilemma, with its plinky guitars, is perhaps the first song (and really it's just an interlude) that I found engaging. Gimme A Hug is perhaps the first true shining example of Drake’s power as a writer. Drake has a hunger in his voice, the beat switches actually invoke something akin to drive and chutzpah, each one building off the other very well. Are his lyrics particularly insightful? No. Does he sneak in a witty one liner here and there? Absolutely! The RIP ME like I'm Hulk Hogan in particular is a solid one).
My most consistent critique of this album, is how Drake & PND seem lost on their own album. The instrumentals have so many beat switches that have no purpose. It makes the already lifeless beats fall even further into the background. Perhaps, the most overt attempt for a pop-crossover is the admittedly groovy Nokia. The opening has peppy kicks, an ear-worm chorus, and though the unnecessary beat switch tries it still does not slow down the song's momentum. Drake tries Indie Pop pastiche on Die Trying to middling effect, and frankly, everything after this song moves back to the same flavorless synths and rhythms that the first half provided; perfectly and imperfectly book ending this dry album about adolescent feelings in grown men.
For the OVO fans, I will be direct... I believe Kendrick won the beef by a landslide. At the same time, I am also someone who loves a good comeback story. Someone putting up a fight. While the fan in me would be envious, the music lover within would be massively impressed to see Drake really address some things, to dig deep, to reflect, to create an album worth listening to post-beef. I know everyone has opinions on what Drake should do after this blow-out loss. But the lukewarm response to this album proves that this album is not the way forward. Hell, I KNOW what a Drake album sounds like when he takes care of the ambience, where he sets a scene, where he is on a mission. But there is no mission here... he still pretends that he has no more mountains to conquer, and that everyone is beneath him. But myself and the audience know that he can go other places, hell he even decide to change! But he refuses to acknowledge the mountain he has still yet to climb: himself.
24/100
Favorite Song:
Hurry Up Tomorrow by the Weeknd
~ Album Review
The meta around “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is palpable and apparent. Abel Tesfaye’s swan songs as his alter-ego The Weeknd, shows him embracing his final chapter and going all in on his glitzy synth-wave sound and presentation. This album feels like a high budget psychological thriller set in the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas, laden with drugs, neon, and over produced residency shows. The opener is pure MJ worship. Cry for Me and Open Hearts are bombastic bangers that pair nicely with the glacial ballads of Baptized in Fear and I Can’t Wait to Get There. Elsewhere is the Giorgio Moroder collaboration Big Sleep, where Abel wears his director hat, curating a dark and mind bending soundscape. It is a bloated album, yes, but it’s done so for a reason, and I might argue that every song provides just enough difference and flavor to make this 80 minute synth odyssey worth every minute.
88/100
Favorite Song:
Why Lawd? by NxWorries
~Album Review
The album “Why Lawd?” sets out to answer the question… how can one make a divorce album still sound sexy. Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge have crafted a clever and proper response to their 2016 album “Yes Lawd”; like their debut is the party and subsequent marriage, and “Why Lawd” is the messy aftermath Anderson .Paak while still providing those funny one liners about unbelievable women, one night stands, and the like, he is able to access a deep cache of pain, of fault, and regret that is frankly refreshing. Meanwhile, Knxlwedge does what he does best… smooth soul samples and slinky drum beats that would make J Dilla proud. There are even songs like Daydreaming that veer into the aesthetics of Vaporwave. This gives the album some depth and variety that its other soul/r&b contemporaries simply don’t have. The album is all mood. It is encapsulating from start to finish and is a worthy follow-up to their much loved debut album.