By Matthew Leon
On February 14, Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR released their highly anticipated Valentine's Day project, "$$$4U." Both artists, mainly Drake, are coming off of one of the most controversial hip-hop feuds of the last decade, as they fired back and forth with Kendrick Lamar. Drake has not released an album since before the conflict, which left his fans eager for new music.
The album is very long, as it holds 21 songs for a run time of 1 hour and 13 minutes. The majority of the album is performed in an R&B style, as Drake tries to get the feelings out for Valentine's Day. It uses slow beats and stands out from Drake's discography as one of his least rap-filled projects.
Best Overall Song
"NOKIA" - 10/10
This was undoubtedly the best song on the album. "NOKIA" is Drake's best song in years, due to its catchy lyrics and beat. The beat samples a Nokia phone ringtone, which makes it unique and different from the rest of the album.
Later in the song, around the 1:35 mark, the beat switches and becomes even better and more catchy. This song has great potential and is one of the best over the last few years.
Honorable Mentions:
"DIE TRYING" - 10/10
"SMALL TOWN FAME" - 9/10
Worst Overall Song
"MEET YOUR PADRE" - 1/10
This one's controversial, but I just can't take it seriously. In this track, Drake and PARTY try to infuse Spanish into the lyrics, but it just doesn't come off well. That on top of the annoying Mexican beat in the background, makes for a joke of a song. It'll probably make a solid TikTok soun,d at least.
Honorable Mentions:
"OMW" - 2/10
"GLORIOUS" - 2/10
Best Beats
"SMALL TOWN FAME" - 10/10 beat
The beat on this track was immaculate, to say the least. The background vocals add such a nice touch to the song, which was overall one of the best on the album.
"NOKIA" - 10/10 beat
As stated before, the Nokia ringtone beat just fits so well with the rhythm of this song. It has to be up here.
"DIE TRYING" - 10/10 beat
This beat is just a joy to listen to. It puts the listener in a good mood compared to the rest of the tracks.
Full Album Ratings
CN Tower - 6/10
MOTH BALLS - 6/10
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU - 8/10
CRYING IN CHANEL - 2/10
SPIDER-MAN SUPERMAN - 8/10
DEEPER - 7/10
SMALL TOWN FAME - 9/10
PIMMIE’S DILEMMA - 5/10
BRIAN STEEL - 6/10
GIMME A HUG - 7/10
RAINING IN HOUSTON - 7/10
LASERS - 4/10
MEET YOUR PADRE - 1/10
NOKIA - 10/10
DIE TRYING - 10/10
SOMEBODY LOVES ME - 4/10
CELIBACY - 3/10
OMW - 2/10
GLORIOUS - 3/10
WHEN HE’S GONE - 4/10
GREEDY - 2/10
Overall Album Rating: 7/10
Ever since it came out, the album's been growing on me. This rating might be too high for some people, but I think it's one of the better albums of the last few years. It's loaded with instant classics that will be replayed for years. This was for sure some of Drake's best work.
Bro, this album is straight trash. There’s no way you can call Nokia a 10/10 song. Literally just superficial Drake at its finest. I will admit some of the beats are very well produced. But overall, it feels more like the beats carrying Drake instead of Drake building on top of what the production value on this album is. 7/10 should be more of a 3 or 2. This album was NOT good.
this album was a 3 at best half the songs are unlistenable