Drake - VIEWS (Quick Review)

Drake's VIEWS is finally out and in our ears. The album saw a delay after 2015's platinum mixtape/album, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, really caught fire giving it basically an album cycle all to itself. VIEWS is everything you've come to expect from Drake and he continues to improve on his brand of rap/hip-hop. I can't see any fan of Drake being let down by this. It has the beats that Drake flows best with overall. It has tons of standout "Drake" lyrics. "Still Here" is classic Drake; it has the beat, the lyrics, and the flow we've come to expect from him. "Childs Play" might be the best song on the album. The lyrics are pretty clever and Drake's personality shines through really well. Towards the latter half of the album Drake takes a chance on a few different style beats. "Too Good" featuring Rihanna is a really beachy beat that has kind of a tropical house vibe. I think the song could be a huge single. It is, in some ways, similar to closing track "Hotline Bling's" beat.

There has been a ton of discussion about when Drake's classic album will drop. It's hard to judge what will be deemed classic in the present. I'm willing to believe Drake may have a couple classic albums under his belt at this point or at least two albums that would be up for consideration. That being said if you're in the group that doesn't think an album like Nothing Was The Same may have some classic potential VIEWS probably won't sway your opinion. You'll leave satisfied, but wondering when will the classic come. I'm not sure we'll know about VIEWS until we're further down the line and see what the lasting power of this album is in regards to the classic issue. I'd be more inclined to think Nothing Was The Same has more classic potential.

VIEWS is, however, another super solid, well written, and extremely well performed project. There are very few flaws with the album. There isn't anything super different here from previous Drake albums. I guess it could be looked at like he's playing it safe on some of the songs or that he is just perfecting his style. Even though he isn't experimenting much he keeps things pretty enjoyable. The length of the album and some of the songs may go a little too long and hinder a little of the enjoyment. That being said there are very few artists as consistent in quality and as solid in performance as Drake has been over his career. He continues to deliver. I highly recommend this album. It will no doubt, in my mind, be one of this year's best rap albums. It's stuffed to the brim at 20 songs and they all mostly work.

*In an attempt to offer more thoughts on and review more singles, mixtapes, and albums we do some "quick reviews". This means you'll get some thoughts on the project, but it probably will not be as in depth as our full fledged reviews.