Drake - Thank Me Later

The much anticipated debut album of Canadian-born rapper Drake has fallen short of the aspirational allusions conjured by the Obama ‘Hope’ appropriation of his album cover. The young rapper almost sets himself up for an Icarus-style disappointment before we can even open the CD case, with a bold cover which alludes to Drake as the rap world’s Obama. Perhaps if he was presenting himself with a little more modesty, I wouldn’t have to be so scathing. But alas he hasn’t, and so I will be.

The album is uneven at best and completely self-indulgent at worst. While it begins well enough, with a stylistic and conceptually sophisticated duet with Alicia Keys, such moments of musical brilliance are short-lived and sporadic. Instead the record is flooded by a deluge of crass over-sexualisations of ‘fancy’ girls, extremely premature self-congratulatory proclamations, and the contradictory existential moments of melancholy at the cash-fuelled emptiness that is his successful rap career.

Of course, not all of it is bad. Some of the tracks are good, and it is apparent that they have been produced by some of the best in the business. But after about the fifth song, that whiney, monotone ‘lyricism’ that is Drake’s rapping really starts to grate at the ear drums.

So while this is a wholly adequate debut album, its pretence of being so much more is what prompts criticism and dramatic eye-rolling from those like myself who believe that, even if an artist is 100% sure of the brilliance of their talents, a little bit of humility and modesty would not go astray when one is trying to prove the legitimacy of such abilities to the rest of the world. Because if an artist is going to imply that they’re brilliant, and the evidence proves the contrary, then it’s fair game for consumers like me to swoop in and point the finger at such blatant and premature self-glorifications. [Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ThankMeLater.jpg]