#drakevember

PROLOGUE TO THE EPILOGUE

The final album of Drakevember. Published intentionally after midnight on December 1st, Chile time. This whole thing was an experience. One that I'd love to replicate with a lot more time if possible, instead of procrastinating doing anything until the last week of the month like a total dumbass. I've learned a lot about the way that I approach music, and managed to get back into the habit of taking notes while listening to the album, or the second I get the chance directly after. Drake's discography is a mess, largely mediocre with some standouts on both ends of the quality spectrum. I see myself reflected in it. I look at the cover of Certified Lover Boy and think about the fact that if I was given a selection of horribly expensive designs, I would probably also pick the funniest, most horrible one possible for an album with that little effort put into it, and that makes me realize that Drake, much like I, is a human person with a heart. One that he tries to show to the world with his music. But he also has a shitload of money, so I don't respect him and he needs to die.

via rateyourmusic

this album sucks so much ass dude i literally fell asleep for like a solid minute on N Too Deep i'm not even gonna bother with proper punctuation for this one because i am writing this shit at 4 am and i am dead tired and this album did NOT help this album is literally so boring i had to open up tiktok and dual wield so i wouldnt fall back asleep which i think is kind of impressive in its own way. congratulations aubrey youre not good at this also Way 2 Sexy is impressively ass god DAMN i cant believe that song not only got past quality control but also CHARTED ON THE YEAR END HOT 100

SCORE: 1/5

via rateyourmusic

If So Far Gone was undercooked, this is completely raw. Drake is clearly just starting as a rapper, not even having Lil Wayne's style to bite, and on a lot of the tracks he's paired up with a more talented rapper, so he ends up paling in comparison. There are some moments where the bars he's spitting might as well be "My name is Aubrey and I'm here to say..." And it's honestly a little bit charming. But not enough to make me think it loops back around and becomes good. More like a pug being malformed enough to be pitiable but not pitiable enough to be cute. The beat selection, however, is (with a few exceptions) pretty great. I'm reminded of Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor, which isn't surprising considering he has a remix of Lupe Fiasco's Kick, Push on this album, something that made me smile the second I heard the beat. I probably should've started here instead of doing everything in a completely random order, shouldn't I?

SCORE: 3/5

via rateyourmusic

This album certainly sounds like it's from 2009, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It really varies from track to track if it's embarrassingly dated or wonderfully aged. This album in general has Drake's worst bars. He clearly was a rookie when he made this, even if he was Lil Wayne's protege. He's lacking in technique, and I'm not the biggest fan of Wayne in general, so when Drake apes his style, It doesn't really appeal to me at all. I really like Let's Call It Off, the indie rock-y melodic hook by Peter Bjorn and John on a Drake song is something that feels like getting a glass of water thrown in your face after suffering through a 40 degree celsius afternoon of a discography, but most of the tracks don't match that level. This album is like eating an undercooked deep-fried chicken breast with really good seasoning. It does taste pretty good, but I wouldn't want to finish it in most cases because I don't want to get salmonella, which in this metaphor means getting my algorithm permanently ruined by Drake.

SCORE: 2.5/5