Scorpion - Drake - Album Review

Toronto hip-hop artist, Drake, proves too ambitious for his own good yet again. While Drake might never garner the acclaim and respect he received when Take Care or Nothing Was The Same dropped, one cannot hope for quality material anymore. Scorpion manages to find the artist caring more about quantity than quality, and because of it the album suffers immensely.

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Drake, you should know about him by now. Mr. Champagne Papi has been in the spotlight for more than ten years, a feat that most artist's from the 2000s cannot even fathom. Most of Drake's albums have gone onto platinum status (If not, then probably all), and it would not matter if he dropped a bad album, cause at the end of the day the rest of the world would listen. So why did Mr. Headlines decide to make a double album? Your guess is as good as mines.

To have the audience engaged for an entire double album can serve as a tricky feat; one has to make sure that the audience stays engaged, understands the story, and wants more of the artist. However, Drake cannot manage to make half of the album a cohesive listen. Do not get me wrong, many entertaining tracks reside in the album, but many inconsistencies plague it. As a "Drake" album one should expect tales of women, betrayal, and the life of a pop star, and the album sticks to these themes yet again.

Drake comes through on many tracks such as "Mob Ties", a track that discusses how he has close friends with a criminal past. Sonically, Drake comes through with many memorable beat choices such as "Sandra's Rose", "After Dark", and "Blue Tint", many that discuss the same old Drake themes. What holds the album up comes to the fact that Drake already released some good singles such as the much overplayed "God's Plan", the female anthem "Nice For What", and the much memed "I'm Upset". Drake could have benefitted from a least a couple more features on the album, and that definitely would have given the album more of a kick. JAY-Z's verse on "Talk Up" serves as a highlight, and Future's ad-libs on "Blue Tint" aren't too shabby either. Not even the late Michael Jackson can save the project though.

After Drake got murdered by Pusha T, you would expect a response back, but not much gets talked about. Even more tragic, in "Emotionless", Adonis (Drake's child), only receives a half-assed mention, "I wasn't hidin' my kid from the world / I was hidin' the world from my kid / From empty souls who just wake up and look to debate / Until you starin' at your seed, you can never relate", you would expect something more elaborate, but the poor child only receives a line or two. Drake drops some lines about his past beefs in "Survival", but it just feels lackluster and careless, Drake does not sound proud nor even triumphant at this point in his career.

At the end of the day, why should Drake care about what the critics say about him? In the end he's still making headlines and smashing the charts worldwide. At this point Drake has no right in getting upset, even if he dropped another inconsistent project the rest of the world would still listen to it. If you're reading this and hoping for another Take Care or Nothing Was The Same, well you're too late...

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5.5/10

Released: 2018

Label: Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

Favorite Tracks: Nonstop, Emotionless, God's Plan, I'm Upset, Mob Ties, Sandra's Rose, Talk Up, Nice For What, Blue Tint, After Dark

Worst Tracks: Summer Games, Don't Matter To Me, Elevate, Finesse