Finally. The debut album from one of the biggest stars in Urban Music today, Drizzy Drake. After the huge success of his mixtape So Far Gone, which had some heavy radio cuts such as Uptown, Successful, & of course Best I Ever Had, Drake is back to try to not exceed his expectations (that's pretty much impossible), but at least enough to satisfy and please his critics.
Lets be honest here. So Far Gone is probably considered, if not, one of the best mixtapes of all times, and clearly good enough to be put out as an album. Some consider Thank Me Later to be his second album, but in reality, it's his first take in the music industry. Enough with all the background info, lets get to the album.
Fireworks is in a way similar to the outro on So Far Gone. This piano and drum melody will charm its way into your ears with Drake's soulful voice on the bridge and then finally taken away by the beautiful voice of Mrs. Swizz Beatz (Alicia Keys). Great way to start. Despite having a lot of features (B.o.B/Wale) on his debut, Drake takes his try at a solo rnb song with Karaoke. I don't really care for this song. It's one of those were I like it, but it's not one of the ones that I'd have on repeat.
The Resistance, to me, is the intro for Over. Listen to the lyrics. This was one of the tracks I had on repeat when I sat down with my own personal listening session in my room. Great song. And as I stated it carries over to "Over" very nicely. Nothing much to say about Over, good single, good radio play, summer jam. Show Me A Good Time is probably my favorite song. Its catchy, Drake kills the verses, and the songs just addicting. This is when Drakes singing does come in handy. When he sings choruses to "rap songs" and not "rnb" ones. He's a lot more effective that way.
Another possible radio cut, Up All Night, featuring the baddest, my girl Nicki, is another decent song. On my iTunes, its second on most played for the album so far. "Fancy" is just an ok song. It does have big names such as T.I. and Swizz Beatz, but it's just an average song. That song could've been made better. Not the best beat. T.I. does a great job and Swizzy does ok with the chorus. "Shut It Down" has been floating around the internet since March and it's by far the best rnb cut on Thank Me Later. You can't beat The-Dream-Drake collabo. Kind of lengthy with close to 7 minutes. "Unforgettable" has that Aliyah sample all the blogs are talking about. Another radio cut, decent song. Jeezy does a good job. As I continue with my listening session, I picked up on a lil thing about Drake. More on that later though.
"Light Up" is the highly anticipated collabo between young and old, grasshopper and master, Drizzy and Jay-Z. Both emcees get 12 bars followed by 2 choruses sung by Drizzy. Good song, but just like Fancy, I think this Drake/Jay-Z collabo could've been better. And now onto "Miss Me." One of my favorites. Drake and Lil Wayne both, pardon my language, fucked that beat up (Sorry Boi-1da). Its a completely different version from the leaked version that came out called All Night Long. New chorus, extended by about 3 minutes, and Weezy's presence is added.
CeCe's Interlude is probably something Drake wanted to add in. Only has 1 play on my iTunes. That should speak for itself. "Find Your Love" is the radio cut that Drake proclaims was a "risk." I enjoy this song. It grows on you a lot. At first I wasn't a fan, ah well. And finally, we end with "Thank Me Now," decent track. Good ending I think.
If you have made it this far, you may have remembered me mentioning what I picked up about Drake. Well here it is. Drake's different from So Far Gone. In most of his tracks on Thank Me Later, he says, "they say money changes you," or something in that general vicinity. It truly did. Money did change him, as he created a good debut, but not even close to what was expected from him. Compared to CuDi, B.o.B, & Wale, Drake finishes in the middle. CuDi has had by far the best debut album, and I'm not saying that cause I'm from Cleveland.
My Score:
3.75/5 - Good album.
Make sure to support him and buy the album dropping June 9th!
Here is what others are saying about "Thank Me Later,"
"It sucks." - Brett Restivo
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