A review of Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same”

Janine Savoie – Special to the Southern News

Nine days before its scheduled Sept. 24 debut, Drake’s latest album “Nothing Was the Same,” leaked its way onto the web. Fans that couldn’t wait passed the album around via Twitter; my feed exploded with reviews and lyric praise. I decided to give the previous “Degrassi” star a listen once the album hit Spotify. The deluxe edition album holds 15 tracks, featuring a few other well-known artists: Jay Z, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Majid Jordan, Paris Morton Music 2, and Detail.

Drake begins with the first track, “Tuscan Leather”, more or less an introduction worthy rap. The beat is firm; he’s confident and aware of his greatness. This song is straight and to the point.

I feel like he’s trying to set the bar for other artists with this album from the first track to the last. He rolls into his next track, “Furthest Thing”, co-produced by Jake One. Here, Drake definitely balances life and being a celebrity. I definitely heard his passion for his music. The next track was the album’s first single, “Started from the Bottom.” The four chorus anthem is definitely one that Drake is associated with, “started from the bottom now we here,” claiming his rags-to-riches glory and the ultimate story of the album: fame.

I definitely had to do my research for the next two. Drake takes the Wu-Tang Clan’s “It’s Yourz” beat and uses a piano to turn it into a song about lust with a hint of jealousy. I think he sounds a bit cocky, but it’s almost like a confirmation of his devotion to love. However, he mellows out with track five: “Own It,” an encore to his previous song but a little twisted, turning the tables and pledging his love back. Drake isn’t on his best behavior with the next track, “Worst Behavior,” produced by DJ Dahi. He’s definitely in favor of the F-word, making this album absolutely explicit, but I think the song is pretty catchy.

The next track features female artist, Jhene Aiko, slowing it down a bit with “From Time.” She sings, “Darling you, you give but you cannot take love.” The two go back and forth about love, Drake definitely raps about the women who have impacted his life. He breaks up the lonely love songs with his next song, “Hold on We’re Going Home,” with guest vocals from Majid Jordan. Drake sings this one, no rap verses, he sounds smooth and content and I think this one was my favorite. At this point I thought I would be bored with the album because there are so many tracks, but Drake does his best to keep your attention. “Connect,” isn’t my favorite song, but the Hudson Mohawke co-produced track reflects on the influence Houston has had on Drake’s life.

Track 10, “The Language,” is co-produced by Boi-1da, Ritter and Vinylz. He comes out fighting with this one, “Bank account statements just look like I’m ready for early retirement.” Track 11, “305 to my City,” obviously a rap about his hometown with some detail about a stripper, not too sure about this one but I think everyone might take what it means a little differently. “Too Much,” is almost ‘too much,’ an emotional add-on to the album. He sings, “Money got my whole family goin’ backwards. No dinners, no holidays, no nothin’.” Enough said with that line alone, he sounds frustrated with family, fortune, and fame. Track 13 is the last song if you didn’t go deluxe, “Pound Cake,” features Paris Morton Music and  Jay Z, the album’s only rap feature. Jay Z raps, “I had Benzes ‘fore you had braces,” but Drake doesn’t let him close out the album. He comes back and makes himself worthy with, “I’m the greatest of my generation.” Enough said.

The last two tracks (14 and 15) are available on the deluxe album, and along with the second half of the album, these songs really brought everything together for me. Drake is clearly passionate about his music. “Come Thru,” is pretty simple but he ends the deluxe edition with “All Me,” featuring Big Sean and 2 Chainz. He got a lot of use of the n-word in this track, which I’m not completely fond of but I think it comes with the whole rap genre. “Got everything, I got everything, I cannot complain, I cannot. I don’t even know how much I really made, I forgot.”

It’s clear with this album that fame and fortune doesn’t always mean everything. At the end of the day, although he’s making it big now I think Drake just wants it known that he’s still human and he still feels the struggles many go through day to day. While I’m not partial to this genre of music, I enjoyed the album and think it’s worth listening to.