My Gut Reaction: Drake - Thank Me Later (June 15, 2010)

Terrible album cover aside, Aubrey Graham's Thank Me Later is one of the most highly anticipated hip hop albums of the summer.  With his debut album, the artist currently known as Drake hopes to build upon his large following with a musical experience that, hopefully, people will actually pay for, a tough proposition when you realize that all of his albums thus far have been freebies given away on blogs as if they were candy on Halloween.  It's a gamble that his new label home, Universal, hopes will pay off, and Drake has played his role as the employee of the month very well, promoting the shit out of Thank Me Later even after it leaked to the Interweb a full two weeks before its actual release date.  (Even with it being readily available, I chose to wait until it actually found its way to store shelves, and even then I didn't actually buy it: I'm basing this write-up on a borrowed copy from a friend and inexplicable Drake fan.)


None of this backstory matters, though, because all you two are concerned about is why Hip Hop Isn't Dead would devote space to the continuing exploits of Aubrey Graham anyway.  As I've mentioned in the past, I won't ignore today's commercial output simply because it's popular and mostly crappy: in fact, with the exception being Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, I won't automatically dismiss any artist out there.  Thank Me Later will sell tons of copies, sure (although not as many as the industry seems to believe - once again, Drake's fan following is made up of people that downloaded all of his other shit thus far), but that doesn't mean the entire album will suck: there might be a few throwaway gems on here that you two should know about.  Also, I briefly mentioned on my Twitter account the other day that every review of Drake's output (this would be the fourth such write-up) seems to garner more commentary than most of the underground and unknown artists: you two hold the power in your hands to guide the direction of HHID.


My wrists are tired at the moment, so I'm going to skip straight to the review, if you don't mind.


1. FIREWORKS (FEAT ALICIA KEYS)
So it turns out that I'm already wrong: apparently Universal has no problem with Drake filling Thank Me Later with a similar lo-fi spectacle that permeated So Far Gone. While Aubrey still thrives in this environment (for now, anyway – I still have thirteen tracks to go, mind you), listeners are left in the uniquely awkward position of witnessing a man complain about his success when, technically, he hasn't actually seen any sort of reward from his new career choice just yet. (The second verse is also about his relationship with Rihanna, if any of you two care about gossip.) “Fireworks” also boasts a complete waste of a cameo from Alicia Keys, whose role on here could have truly been performed by anybody, up to and including an Auto-Tuned Max. Not a great start here.


2. KARAOKE
It's my own fault: with a song title such as “Karaoke”, I was expecting a catchy number with a hypnotic hook that could easily translate over to a drunken night at a bar, or at the very least a tribute to singers who specialize in someone else's songs, kind of like that crappy Gwyneth Paltrow flick Duets. Instead, we receive more Aubrey navel gazing, as he both sings and raps to an audience of nobody, complaining about how his good fortune has negatively affected his love life, as if it's a huge inconvenience to be famous when he technically isn't that well known outside of our chosen genre. Yeah, way to get your fans on your side, Drake.


3. THE RESISTANCE
I suspect that this is going to be a running theme on Thank Me Later: multiple versions of “Successful” that slowly reveal that Drake is absolutely, positively not hip hop's savior and is also not someone that women should look to as a fine example of an honest man, unless you count the fact that he's upfront with his need to fuck anything that moves, no matter how shallow and empty he claims it makes him feel afterward. Aubrey works hard to gain some sympathy from the audience, but I'm not sure that he actually deserves any.


4. OVER
The poorly-received first single from Thank Me Later, although you're forgiven if you truly feel “Over” to be a success: Universal spent a pretty penny lining the pockets of radio deejays and music television programmers to create the illusion of a hit single. In reality, this song isn't that good of a marketing move for Aubrey: he almost goes out of his way to alienate the fanbase that So Far Gone created for him, so much so that only those who are familiar with the cocky, abrasive “Money To Blow”-esque Drake will even recognize him, and Boi-1da's instrumental can't decide between sounding dramatic or anthem-like, ending up lukewarm in the process. Kudos to Drake for somehow convincing the label to push “Over” instead of a “Best I Ever Had II”, but this still wasn't a great idea.


5. SHOW ME A GOOD TIME
Proves that, regardless of how much money he's thrown at computer programming to show otherwise, Drake isn't that great of a singer. The mere fact that he does sing separates him from the pack...actually, wait, no it doesn't: every single popular rapper out right now seems to have longed for a singing career, from Lil' Wayne and Eminem to Kanye West and B.o.B. Either way, this does not mean that the man should continue singing. Lyrically, Aubrey sounds like the same cocky motherfucker he portrayed on So Far Gone, dropping far too many names and making random references that hip hop nerds will catch and, as a result, think he's cool (such as the shout-out to the late J. Dilla), and 'Ye's beat will probably fit onto radio playlists easily, but this song still sounded weirdly devoid of joy.


6. UP ALL NIGHT (FEAT NICKI MINAJ)
Surprisingly, the first Young Money family member to make a guest appearance on Thank Me Later is not Lil' Wayne. What isn't surprising is that Nicki Minaj scored a cameo: Universal is also trying to repurpose her as the next female rapper worth watching, a cross between the sexuality of Lil' Kim and the overt strangeness of Missy Elliott, which is offensive to both of those ladies, as they are both still in the game somewhere. (I think I left them both by my car keys.) Boi-1da's beat isn't that bad, but Drake should have looked past the Young Money synergy and Nicki's (probably fake) ass to nab a guest verse from someone with actual talent. What about one of your friends from Room For Improvement or Comeback Season, eh?


7. FANCY (FEAT T.I. & SWIZZ BEATZ)
Swizz Beatz, best known these days as the father of Alicia Keys's unborn child, provides an uncharacteristically soulful instrumental that is more in the vein of early Kanye West and less “Ruff Ryder's Anthem”, so that was interesting. (This is probably due to the fact that this track features a co-producer, Noah Shebib; actually, now that I think of it, nearly all of the tracks are produced by more than one person.) His insistence on performing the hook fucks everything up, though. I understand why Drake would want to align himself with the big guns in hip hop (maybe a reference to “big guns” when discussing T.I. Is inappropriate, but I don't care), but the tactic backfires, as Clifford is much more skilled at the “shitty radio song for the chicks” sub-genre. Aubrey is left grasping at straws, at least until the beat switched to trademarked So Far Gone territory at the very end. Also very surprised to see Mary J. Blige credited with “additional vocals”, as she is a much bigger name than Clifford and Swizzy combined.


8. SHUT IT DOWN (FEAT THE-DREAM)
Attempts to sound cinematic, but only manages a “meh” from me. And why the fuck did Drake feel the need to tack an extra two minutes onto the song at the end?


9. UNFORGETTABLE (FEAT YOUNG JEEZY)
Credit where credit is due: Drizzy goes out of his way to find beats that have an actual musical quality about them, as opposed to all of the other horrendous artists currently populating radio airwaves who are more concerned with creating goofy new dances than saying anything important. Not that Aubrey or Jeezy act like motivational speakers on here or anything, as both men talk circles around themselves to draw attention away from the lack of a cohesive theme. I liked the beat, though.


10. LIGHT UP (FEAT JAY-Z)
Seems to take forever to get started, but when the drums kick in over this Noah Shebib and Tone Mason-manned creation, “Light Up” turns into the best track on Thank Me Later thus far. Aubrey's verses have quickly exposed him as a punchline rapper who confuses depth with observation, but his ability to spit with a false air of confidence (false because, if you take his lyrics literally, all Drake seems to do is get dumped and whine) help him stand shoulder to shoulder with Hova, who kicks what appears to be a discarded verse from an alternate-universe version of “Run This Town” before he decides that what Drizzy really needed to hear was some advice from a grizzled war veteran regarding how to survive in the rap game. I will say that it was interesting to hear Shawn admit that he doesn't have many close friends anymore, far less than when Reasonable Doubt dropped: one hopes that he's thoughtful enough to also impart these words of wisdom to his own apprentice, J. Cole. The hook on here was ass, but everything else was actually pretty entertaining.


11. MISS ME (FEAT LIL WAYNE)
Thankfully, Weezy's mandatory guest appearance is limited to this one song, but his absence most certainly did not make the heart grow fonder: his verse is so asinine and embarrassing to the mere concept of rap music that “Miss Me” will probably become a fucking monster hit. Drake also spends time professing his love for fellow Young Money sellout Nicki Minaj, which will leave the listeners feeling all sorts of uncomfortable, hoping that someone, anyone, will step in and change the subject.  The beat was alright in that “well, for 2010 I guess it works, but it cannot compare to how rap sounded last year”-kind of way, but that's all of the praise I have.


12. CECE'S INTERLUDE
I'm sure even CeCe is wondering why Drake would attach her name onto such a boring fucking track.


13. FIND YOUR LOVE
Thank Me Later's second single, produced by a committee led by Kanye West, features Aubrey's softer side speaking directly to the ladies (and, as my wife pointed out, fans of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, what with his numerous “hey hey hey's” and all). Early word on this track was negative, but this could have been much worse: Kanye at least got a somewhat decent vocal performance from Drake, which makes this track actually not that bad. At the very least, Aubrey will fulfill his dream of becoming your girlfriend's favorite new rapper. “Find Your Love” is instantly forgettable, though, which is a trait I'm sure 'Ye isn't very happy with, but hey, it isn't on his album, so...


14. THANK ME NOW
Thank Me Later ends with the most boring Timbaland instrumental I've heard in the past five years, and don't forget, I've listened to The Blueprint 3. How dull is it? It sounds like Timbo stole an mp3 from Pharrell's house and scraped away all of the burnt part. It seems as though Drake was simply ecstatic to have a Timbaland track to call his very own, failing to realize how fucking weak it sounded. Lyrically, Drake fails to impress, but then again, he's been repeating the same shit since So Far Gone dropped. “Thank Me Now” runs four minutes too long, but I am thankful that this sonic experiment is finally over.


European and Japanese audiences get to end their evening with a selection of bonus tracks culled from the So Far Gone EP. (I suppose Universal didn't go out of their way to pose Drake as an international star until now.) iTunes customers who purchase Thank Me Later receive a bonus track as well, but since I don't have that version, I can't review it in good faith. Let me know if it's worth the effort.


THE LAST WORD: Thank Me Later is fucking weak. There, now that I've gotten that out of the way, allow me to extrapolate. With his debut album, Drake has provided listeners with a two-tiered throwback: a recall to the 1990s, when Hype Williams-directed videos and multiple references to “hoes” on the radio were prevalent, and to the much less desired year of 2009, when Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 hit store shelves. That album only came out nine months ago, and is undeserving of any such nostalgic feelings at this time, but Aubrey hits all of the major points: songs produced by Kanye West and Timbaland, guest appearances by Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Young Jeezy, and Hova himself, and a general apathy to how the radio is “supposed” to sound these days. I appreciate the fact that he didn't cave in to label pressure and record fourteen versions of “Best I Ever Had” or “Forever”, but the So Far Gone blueprint (ha!) worked exactly one time: there should be no need for Drake to already head back to the well. His verses remain far more interesting than his vocals, but the audience is less sympathetic this time around, as everyone is aware that Drake is now a fucking millionaire who was already living a privileged life as an actor (even if he was spending money he didn't really have), as opposed to a struggling artist who finally hit it big that he is still trying to portray. The production work on Thank Me Later is pretty interesting (the actual music was my favorite component of So Far Gone, as well), and Drake's delivery has, admittedly, grown much more confident, but without pairing said confidence with a message of any sort, he sounds like a whiny emo rapper whose friends are all sick of hearing about his self-imposed “problems”. Thank Me Later turned out to be completely nonessential. Better luck next time, Aubrey.


-Max


RELATED POSTS:
Catch up on the other Drake write-ups by clicking here.