Drake Takes Diversity in Music to a New Level in “More Life”

Drake has always been one to impress his listeners with his genuine artistry in music. When he released his groundbreaking album, “Views,” in April of 2016, he set the music world into a frenzy. Less than a year later, Drake has stunned the music world again with his recent debut of “More Life.” This project, whose release has been awaited by his fans since its announcement on Drake’s birthday, features a lengthy total of 22 tracks and spans 81 minutes. Interestingly, rather than being officially called an album (like “Views”), Drake dubs “More Life” a playlist.

Though this has proved an unprecedented decision in music and confused many critics initially, the motives behind this tactic became a little clearer after listening to the entire album. Had “More Life” been called an album, the style would have been seen as all too similar to “Views,” but yet not nearly as good or fleshed out. Both span exactly 81 minutes long, are presented in a versatile style (predominantly hip-hop that mixes in pop and R&B), feature Drake singing about his past struggles, and exhibit his heavy usage of samples.

This distinction of a playlist is what allows critics and fans alike to take what Drake has produced more lightly. An album, especially if it is a Drake album, comes with the expectation of having only the most innovative and record-breaking tracks, something “More Life” unfortunately falls short on. However, for Drake, this playlist serves as a perfect intermediate between “Views” and his upcoming album, allowing his fan base to be occupied with more music.

Listening to the entire playlist for the first time in one full sitting, I wasn’t able to sense a strong artistic statement from Drake. It is on the passive side and feels too much under-the-radar. There are many diverse, beautiful, and unique ideas presented throughout this playlist, but this eclectic compilation of different styles is woven and developed in a fashion that prevents it from being as sonically cohesive as it could be.

Part of this lack of presence stems from the fact that he does not have a clear and direct direction that he wants to take with “More Life.” The first two tracks, “Free Smoke” and “No Long Talk,” both contain heavier beats to which Drake raps.

After the first two tracks, the playlist immediately goes into “Passionfruit,” a track that provides a surprisingly pleasant contrast and appears to be everybody’s favorite. “Passionfruit” features a deep Caribbean and Jamaican sound, consisting of a pulsating, dance-like rhythm that pervades the entirety of the song. It also uses modern synthesizers and other light percussion instruments to emulate the sound of a steelpan and to create a potent grooving sound, making the track truly enjoyable to listen to. The same style goes on for the next four tracks (“Jorja Interlude,” “Get it Together,” “Madiba Riddim,” and “Blem”) that tie together smoothly as they all contain a lighthearted, dancehall sound. After those four tracks, it progresses right back to hard-hitting music, such as rap and heavy hip-hop for the rest of the playlist.

Another indicator that Drake takes a backseat in this playlist is that he diverts a lot of the focus onto other singers. In one track titled “4422,” Drake’s vocals are not present at all. Instead, British singer Sampha takes on the spotlight. Sampha sings the entirety of the song, with his voice having a soft, layered chorus effect that helps create a poignant yet intimate feeling. “4422” has the slowest of all tempos on the track, allowing both Sampha’s voice and each element in the cool instrumentals to be distinctly heard and appreciated.

Drake is also out-sung in one of the most memorable tracks, “Glow,” a highly anticipated collaboration with another hip-hop icon, Kanye West. West takes on the main hook, opening up the song with singing, “Watch out for me / I’m about to glow.” He repeats that several times throughout the song. His dominating vocals are crisp and powerful, which provide the sole focus to this song. Drake does a fairly decent job of singing his verse in the second half, yet it does not match Kanye’s.

Moreover, the extensive use of samples in “More Life” should be viewed with ambivalence. On one hand, Drake has added many dimensions to this playlist with their clever use. In “Do Not Disturb,” Drake takes the soulful vocals of Snoh Aalegra in her ballad, “TIME,” speeds them up and loops them over and over, creating a beautiful background to set his rap in. Drake also samples songs of different genres from almost every decade in the past five decades. With this, he is truly able to convey a sense of diversity in music.

However, in “Teenage Fever,” he goes overboard with a sample of Jennifer Lopez. Drake takes the chorus of Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” and sets it as his own chorus. Though it works and sounds well, it is a cheap and ingenuine tactic to produce a song.

The lyricality of this playlist is expected of Drake. He does not fail to deliver a heartfelt message about how far he has come since the beginning: the struggles and sacrifices he has made in his career, his widely-scrutinized romances, fame, and the relationships with the people around him. In “Glow,” we hear the iconic lyrics “Started from the bottom, now we here now,” which directly alludes to his song, “Started From the Bottom” released in 2012. These lyrics have become the epitome of Drake’s portrayal of himself as the underdog who overcame obstacles from his childhood and single-handedly became a success.

The quality of the instrumentals are a strong suit of this playlist. In many tracks such as “Ice Melts” and “Glow,” they feature subtle hints of trap layered with different kinds of drum beats, and one strong rhythm plays throughout.

An hour into listening to this playlist, it can feel as if it has dragged on for too long. It is a dense, unfocused album that shines more for its variety of voices and ideas. Yet, it’s definitely worth listening to at least once. Listening to these 22 tracks more and more frequently has made it grow on me, as I’ve gradually come to appreciate the diverse niceties that Drake has presented to the table. It’s not a perfect piece of work and is not Drake’s best by far. But as stated in the outro, until he comes “back in 2018 to give [us] a summary” in the form of a new album, this playlist proves itself good enough to listen to meanwhile.