OF COURSE NOT. But...
I'm not talking album sales. Sales wise Views is a winner! But content is king and did Drake give his best? I'm not convinced.
Views has been two years in the making - a bunch of anticipation, speculation, leaks, rumors, and all of the above. Then...
Views dropped! Twitter was on fire. I was excited, and joined the masses tweeting in excitement. Hashtag Views all over the timeline. One word: sensational. Twitter was a huge listening party. For the night Twitter was fun again.
Anyway, I listened to Views right when it was released... 20 songs later and my only thought was meh. I definitely didn't dislike the album. It's just, we have all heard this before. There's nothing new about it. It's not what I was expecting. I wanted to LOVE the album, and I just didn't. What really surprised me is how many people share this sentiment.
20 quality tracks, and all I can think is what's the reason? What's the purpose of this album? It's not clear to me. I'm open for interpretation. The album had so much anticipation behind it's release, and it just feels safe. There's nothing that stands out as a risk or something new. Ghostwriting rumors, discussions that he hasn't made a classic album, this seemed like the perfect time to shut everyone up, but I can't help to feel like, maybe I was expecting too much.
Fast forward to Wednesday night. One of my favorite podcast, Joe Budden's I'll Name This Podcast Later drops. Budden reveals that he shares my same thoughts. We have basically said the same thing, without all of his yelling - use your inside voice, Joe. See Jayson, it ain't only me! Why is Drake not talking that talk? Why? He's not above it - he's proven that. So, what is it?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Views was supposed to be Drake's classic album. We all know it's not. That's disappointing. From the looks of it, not many people would argue different.
It's no secret that Drake is not your average or typical rapper, and it's universally known that he makes good music, and can hold his own with the best of the rappers out here. But Views should have been THE rap album, but Drizzy would rather sing. Sing about shit that we already know about.
It's quite simple, though. Drake is appealing to the casual music/hip-hop fan, and that's cool! I understand it. Drake doesn't need to feed the masses, he's done it. The rap fans got you! We don't want to hear you dissing Meek anymore, but don't let the spirit of Back to Back and the 30 for 30 Freestyle go in vain.
While, I do not love Views, Drake did say that he has more coming for the summer, so I am staying hopeful. Maybe this was the plan. Drop what he wants, and come swinging when the weather gets nice. Nothing like a summer hit! Wishful thing maybe? We'll see.
So, what do you think? Did Drake give us his all with Views?