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OPINION Canadian Myst: Ranking Drakes Albums

grYmes

grYmes

The price of a brick goin up…
This is the disclaimer of disclaimers. As far as albums go, I’m not a fan of Drake. That isn’t to say he hasn’t had a good album, but it honestly feels like that hasn’t happened in over a decade. Can’t deny the man’s talent and ability to make a hit single. Drake is the biggest male pop star in the world despite his recent… *ahem*, unpleasantness.

His discography maybe one of the most divisive in terms of huge stars in hip hop history. The man keeps selling records despite what rap music snobs like me may think. Have I got this thing all wrong? Maybe it’s me? I haven’t listened to the majority of his solo efforts in their entirety since they dropped. So I’ve been listening to some of these albums for the first time in years. How will I stack em up? Some of these rankings may surprise even myself.
 
8. Honestly, Nevermind (2022)

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Man… I tried. I really did. There’s nothing of note to like about this album. All the way down to the splooge font used for the album cover. I’m gonna go on record in saying that this is the most stale, mind numbingly boring singing Drake has ever done on an album. There has been moments where Drake on much better albums, used his singing as a means to an end rather than an anchor for an album. This here tho feels half assed. I’m totally convinced that if Drake could not rap he wouldn’t have lasted long as a strictly R&B dude. The production on this album ranges from aight to doo doo grits. Club music has its place but this all feels like some shit you hear on The Sims. The only saving grace of this thing is the closing song “Jimmy Cooks” & that just feels like it was done out of mercy to my ears. For a dude who has a pension to craft hits nothing makes me wanna come back to this. Not off to a great start.
 
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Sony Montana said:
lol you don’t have to be a fan of somebody to listen to their discography and give an opinion
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When you outright state you don't like them, don't think they've put out anything good in a decade, name the thread "Canadian myst" what's the point? What changed?

If you don’t like something why keep going back to it? And why do you have to tell niggas about it? Just do it.

Yall got it tho.
 
TTBF said:
When you outright state you don't like them, don't think they've put out anything good in a decade, name the thread "Canadian myst" what's the point? What changed?

If you don’t like something why keep going back to it? And why do you have to tell niggas about it? Just do it.

Yall got it tho.
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He just made a Eminem thread (which you didn’t complain about) and it’s another thread in a series of rappers of catalogs he’s going through to give it an unbiased take

Stop acting so emotional it’s nasty lol
 
Sony Montana said:
He just made a Eminem thread (which you didn’t complain about) and it’s another thread in a series of rappers of catalogs he’s going through to give it an unbiased take

Stop acting so emotional it’s nasty lol
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That's the thing I don't engage in much of anything Eminem cause I've had a large enough sample size over years to know I don't like his music. I don't have to do a listening review of his music or offer a deep dive that's a weird way to waste everyone's time.

You will rarely see me engage in conversation about an artists art if I don't fuck with it besides me saying I don't fuck with it.

Once you openly state you dislike something you can't offer an impartial or unbiased opinion.

Probably shouldn't start a review that way at least.

That's peace tho. Get ya lies off.
 
TTBF said:
That's the thing I don't engage in much of anything Eminem cause I've had a large enough sample size over years to know I don't like his music. I don't have to do a listening review of his music or offer a deep dive that's a weird way to waste everyone's time.

You will rarely see me engage in conversation about an artists art if I don't fuck with it besides me saying I don't fuck with it.

Once you openly state you dislike something you can't offer an impartial or unbiased opinion.

Probably shouldn't start a review that way at least.

That's peace tho. Get ya lies off.
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Lmao

okay well when you do your thread series you can do artists you are are a huge fan of
 
7. For All The Dogs (2023)

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I think people might of confused me saying that Drake hasn’t had a good album in over a decade for “he’s had terrible albums”. Which really isn’t the case. Me liking or disliking a rapper personally isn’t detrimental to how I feel about their albums either. Honestly, Nevermind is the only one I can truly say ain’t shit at least for me. For All The Dogs is a pretty significant improvement. Drake feels a lot more motivated & engaging in this album. Which is honestly a lot of what makes him so appealing. That said tho, this album falls into mixed bag territory right after “First Person Shooter”. We get the typical Drake musings on his dealings with the female sex. Which at times do hit, but at 37 years old & 8 albums in a lot of it feels like we’ve heard this album before. The production on this album has very few hiccups. Honestly, Nevermind really needed this direction behind the boards. Overall this is the prime example of current day Drake & all his strength’s & weaknesses. Not a timeless entry but if you’re a fan for its time it does its job.
 
TTBF said:
"I'm not a fan of drake and I don't think he's dropped anything great in a decade but imma go through his discography and rank it so I can reaffirm that I don't really like much of it to yall."
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I couldn't find a Drake bat-signal so this will have to do.
 
6. Views (2016)

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I did not like this album when it dropped. I thought it was too long, at times overproduced & it felt like Drake was coasting rather than trying to expand on his abilities lyrically. A lot of that people could and have said about his work since this album. The BIG difference with this one however is just how bad it’s aged. Which forced me to rank a certain post 2020 album higher. Add to the fact that, while people may wanna believe it or not… Drake has indeed shown some improvement as a storyteller & lyricist since this. There are some gems on this album that keep it from dipping any lower on these rankings tho. That would be mainly the singles, including the inescapable “Hotline Bling” & “Controla”. Which helped propel Drake to pop heights. Other than that tho this was a letdown for me after his first three albums delivered. This put Drake down the path that he’s been on the previous near decade. For better or worse.
 
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5. Certified Lover Boy (2021)

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This according to Drake was the first of a “trilogy” of albums along with Honestly, Nevermind & the 21 Savage collab Her Loss. Like any trilogy of movies the first one is usually the best. Certified Lover Boy maybe the most hip hop leaning album he’s made in some time. It’s more or less a guilty pleasure album of mine since it dropped. This is about as close to “Take Care” Drake that I’ve seen in years. Spitting obnoxious bars over quality production. There is filler that I for the life of me don’t understand how it makes it to his albums. The 80 plus minute run time is a bit much. Shave this down by 5 or 6 tracks & you got a banger. While the subject matter is typical of Drake his rhymes flow so much better than previous efforts & more importantly… I actually feel like he wants me to give a fuck about what he has to say. Whatever fire was lit under him for this album I hope he comes back to it.
 
4. Scorpion (2018)

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Just like other top music artists before him, Drake drops the prerequisite double album. The first volume more rap focused while the second a bit more R&B flavored. What’s here is the makings of a good album that still stuffers from the normal pitfalls of trying to stuff two albums worth of material. The funny thing about all this is Drakes albums have typically been clocking in at the 80 minute mark recently so it’s not like we’re getting a rarity. What we do get tho is a good balance of the MC & the lover boy Drake. A lot of my favorite Drake songs from the last decade are surprisingly from this album. When this dropped my original review here said that Drake definitely had something special going with this one. I would have cheery-picked a few of the best tracks of volume 2 & combined them with a solid volume 1 to create a more consistently ill album… Still tho, I’ll give credit when it’s due & admit Scorpion is an underrated, fun album to vibe to.
 
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