Drake: Thank Me Later [Review]

Canadian rapper Drake came to become a phenomenon after the release of his third mixtape So Far Gone. Since then he has gained fans because of his relationship with Lil Wayne but has gained just as many critics for the same reason. With the buzz surrounding him there is no way that his debut album Thank Me Later could live up to the hype…right?

From the soft piano note in “Fireworks”, the listener can see that this album will be different from anything else made within the Young Money group and even hip hop in general. The formally mentioned song as well as “Karaoke” serves as the intro to Thank Me Later. These two songs coupled together set up the theme of the rest of the album as a tale of women and fame reminiscent of Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak.

It’s easy to become engrossed with the mellow feel and the plight filled experience. The next few tracks serve to further establish the theme with Orchestral backing such as the single “Over” which flaunts Drake’s loathing of fame in some ways and how it snuck up on him. These tracks also establish the rapper as a tragedy in the making which is evidenced in the lines “I heard they just moved my grandmother to a nursing home/And I’ll be acting like I don’t know how to work a phone/But hit redial you’ll see that I just called/some chick I met at the mall/That I barely know at all”. The listener can tell that he is doing exactly what he promised to not do: change.

“Fancy”may be the low point of the album. The hook provided by Swizz Beatz tends to be annoying while T.I.’s lyrics seem lazy and rushed as though he put it together in about an hour. This song seems to merely be on the album just to be a future single not a cohesive part of the album. There are featured artists that help make really good songs such as The Dream in the mellow ballad “Shut It Down” and surprisingly Young Jeezy in “Unforgettable” which features a sample of Aaliyah’s “At Your Best (You Are Love)”

My favorite track would have to be “Light Up” featuring Jay-Z. The Roaring synthetic drums and piano piece prove this to be the most memorable song of the album. Drake exhibits the poet within him with the line: “I keep thinking how young can you die from old age/The always tell me no one is working as hard as you/And even though I laugh it off man its probably true”. My main concern going into this album was that Drake would be overshadowed by veteran artists but although Jay-Z is featured in the song, thankfully, he doesn’t take anything away from Drake or outshine him in any way. “Light Up” is a hard act to follow and the songs after it fail to maintain its bravado until the final song which saves the later part of the album. “Thank Me Now” is Drake’s parallel to Jay-Z’s “Thank You” from Blueprint 3 in the fact that is his song of arrogance. This is evidenced by the title, of course, but also in the lyrics in which he states that he’s “on the brink of influential” but “later doesn’t always come so you can thank me now”. Brilliant is what come to mind when thinking of this concept.

The main thing stopping from being classic like Kid Cudi’s debut album, Man on the Moon: the End of Day, is the fact that it relies too much on the songs with featured artist. While Cudi chose to show off his own talents Drake seems to want to showcase how many celebrity friends he has. It’s unlikely that Drake will ever be the best MC ever but he can be the most vulnerable While Thank Me Later doesn’t necessarily meet the hype, it does give hope that one day he might realize just what he has and when that happens hip hop may be thrust into a new Golden Age.

Overall: 8.0/10