Views From the 6

Being the music man that I am, I enjoy listening to anything and everything out there (with the only exception being hardcore screamo). Among other things, I thoroughly enjoy rap and hip hop. When Drake's new album, Views From the 6, dropped on April 25 of this year, I had to give it a listen.

By itself, I would give his new album a 7. He has some really good tracks that feature fresh bars only Drizzy can produce. The more I listen to it the more I appreciate his lines and original mixes. My personal favourites from his new album are 9, Grammy, and Controlla (which is probably the most popular single on the album).

Now, when you compare it to his counterparts: YG, Kcamp, and Kanye West, all of whom released a new album of their own this year, there is no comparison. Views gets a solid 10/10 in this no-contest. People want tracks they can feel, get into, and sing along with. No other new album gives a listener this like Drake's new album. I am actually a fan of YG, and I was pretty disappointed with his new album. A lot of his tracks are just reminiscent of his old hits, and frankly, just doesn't cut it this time. People want new, fresh beats with fresh sounds, and Views does this beautifully. With that being said, it is IMPERATIVE to include tracks that can be compared to an artist's older stuff. After all, its the older stuff that brought you up to where you stand today. In spite of that fact, it is a 50/50 shot to put only new, different stuff in your album in the hopes that you start a new trend or different kind of feel in the hip hop industry.

Take J. Cole's new mixtape that released this year. J. Cole is my favourite hip hop artist. I was very disappointed in his new album. It seems he just got the short end of the stick with this one. He took that 50/50 shot and failed miserably. It's clearly evident he is just trying to hard to produce new, trendy tracks, that sound nothing like J. Cole's traditional stuff. I can't name even one track that I really enjoy listening to from his new album, and it is very sad.

I regress though.

Drake's new album is another great success to add to his already impressive career in the hip hop world. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you enjoy that sort of music.