As many of you know, Drake’s first studio album, Thank Me Later, has leaked ahead of its June 15th release date. I’ve gotten a chance to listen to it a couple of times and overall, its cool. Lots of tracks leaked early (at least four by my count: Fireworks, Unforgettable, Light Up, and Miss Me), and when you add the two singles Over and Find Your Love, almost half the album was out on the interwebz for weeks. I was a little disappointed when I finally got to listen to the finished product (or at least, very near finished) and all the stuff I heard early was the hottest stuff on the album.
I’m not going to do a track by track breakdown like I’ve done in the past; instead, I’ll just try to give you an overview of the whole thing and get you to the download as quickly as possible (most of y’all are probably scanning for the download link now). To put it succinctly, it’s solid. The production is hot for the most part, Drake’s flow is solid on pretty much every track, high profile guest appearance’s are present, he’s got introspective joints, joints for the ladies, joints for the clubs… But I can’t help but feel like not a classic. It’s no Food and Liquor; it’s no College Dropout; it’s no Reasonable Doubt. You could even argue it’s no So Far Gone. I think Thank Me Later is a victim of unreasonable hype. Drake would have had to put out one of the best albums EVER in order to live up to the hype surrounding him. Thank Me Later is good. It will most likely be up for Rap Album of the Year when it’s all said and done, but I think the door is still open for Lasers and Good Ass Job (if either of them makes it out this year) to claim those honors.
HOT:
Fireworks ft. Alicia Keys, The Resistance, Unforgettable ft. Young Jeezy, Light Up ft. Jay-Z, Miss Me ft. Lil Wayne, Thank Me Now
HONORABLE MENTION:
Shut It Down ft. The-Dream (last verse/interlude), Over
FINAL GRADE: B
Now, get it here! via Str8krack.com (PSA: Support artists you like. Go cop in stores, or via Amazon, Zune, or iTunes when the thing drops June 15th)
Agree with my review? Think I’m way off base? Download link dead? Leave a comment.
0 Responses to “Thank Me Later… right now”