Hey guys, it seems every time there is a substantial break between writing pieces, whether it’s winter or summer, there is just an absurd amount of music released by world-famous artists. This past summer we had arguably the two biggest names in hip-hop in Drake and Kanye West drop their long-awaited projects. Kanye’s Donda, along with almost any other album in his discography, was teased for over a year and I remember waking up one morning and randomly seeing it appear on Apple Music with what I thought was an album cover that just was not loading. As for Certified Lover Boy, I believe that was initially meant to come out last winter, and was discussed even before Dark Lane Demo Tapes as far as I’m concerned. Well anyway, I’m here to be the thief of joy and compare these albums because I’m sure everyone is DYING to hear my opinion and the best part is that it’s definitely a controversial one, so, here we go! If you would like to send some hate my way after reading this my email is halperi_davi@bentley.edu (feel free to suggest music to listen to as well).
Kanye West. In my opinion, the greatest artist who has ever lived. Every single project he has released is flooded with meaningful tracks. For an artist to have a discography as lengthy as his with no forgettable albums or songs really for that matter, it is honestly unprecedented. But then, Donda comes along. I think what upset me most about this album is the length. 27 songs totaling to almost two hours in time duration. No skits either, by the way, all full length tracks including four remixes which are difficult to distinguish from their originals if I’m being honest. I’m not by any means saying this is a bad album at all, but expectations are definitely set higher for Kanye. I have found myself returning to “Hurricane”, “Jail”, “Jonah”, “Keep My Spirit Alive”, and a few others. This album certainly contains a handful of bangers with the best being “Believe What I Say”, easily in my opinion. The song gives vibes akin to “Fade” from The Life of Pablo with its powerful bass and infectious chorus. My biggest gripe with this album is how unfinished it feels. “Off The Grid” is six minutes long and it just drags on forever. That thing could have been two separate songs, one with Carti and Kanye and the other with Fivio Foreign and Kanye. That sort of contradicts my idea about the album length, but I can never sit through this entire song; it's just too much. “Jesus Lord” too, that song is nine minutes with the same “Tell me if you know someone that needs, Jesus, Lord!” replaying constantly. “Junya” is a solid track, but also speaks to the unfinishedness of the project as the beat is just so lacking. It’s like four chords on an organ played repetitiously for three minutes, very underwhelming production especially for a Kanye album. Last thing I want to mention about this album is “Tell The Vision”, the Pop Smoke track. It is honestly embarrassing that Kanye has this on the album and it makes me feel like he doesn’t care much at all anymore. This is in no way meant to disrespect Pop Smoke; if anything I feel bad that they did this to him. The song sounds like it was recorded off of a flip phone with a different beat playing in the background while Kanye lacked any effort in mixing in this piano beat on top of it. I didn’t hate Donda, but it just has to be Kanye’s worst album.
I have never been a huge Drake fan although I do have a ton of respect for him. He’s a superstar and not much needs to be said about him, everyone knows who he is. As for Certified Lover Boy, it’s nothing new on Drake’s end, he hasn’t experimented with a new style. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially considering I have come back to more songs on this project than Donda, but what did we expect? Drake has a much more commercial sound that naturally just has a stronger appeal to the public. I can’t hate on him though; clearly nothing is broken as he’s still piling up streams, so why fix anything? Some highlights off this record include “Way 2 Sexy”, “Knife Talk” and “No Friends In The Industry”. “Way 2 Sexy” is a hilarious banger featuring none other than Future and Young Thug who claim to be too sexy for everything in their lives. On a serious note, the chorus is unforgettable and the synth in the beat is just right in the pocket. “Knife Talk” sounds like a leftover from Savage Mode II and I’m not complaining in the slightest. It’s really funny to hear Drake try to sound as menacing as 21 Savage in his verse, especially on an album called Certified Lover Boy. The song is crazy good though, easily the biggest juxtaposition on the album without a doubt. “No Friends In The Industry” is about as predictable as a hype Drake song gets, but again, not complaining. All of the little drum breaks are perfectly timed and Drake raps about how he is alone in the rap game with everyone trying to climb to his greatness. It reminds me of “Landed” from Dark Lane Demo Tapes in its style and cadence. These are probably my favorite kinds of Drake songs.
All in all, listen to some other projects like CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST by Tyler, the Creator, The House is Burning by Isaiah Rashad, Vince Staples’ self-titled album, The Melodic Blue by Baby Keem and The Life of Pi’erre 5 by Pi’erre Bourne. I listen to those much more often than I listen to Donda or Certfied Lover Boy, so I strongly recommend giving them a spin if you haven’t. I plan on reviewing a couple of those unless I receive a suggestion to listen to something else. Thank you for listening to my opinion, I hope it was entertaining and insightful.
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