We’re all used to hearing albums that represent the sunny, bloody, malaise of black-hot Los Angeles or the gritty, frayed, madness of New York. Toronto, though? Not so much. There’s so much to that capital of Ontario, Canada. A roiling caribbean population that’s influenced Drake’s music heavily. The European provinciality of downtown, which could easily pass for a chic, quaint village in England. The screaming expanse of highway heading to towns about the size of a period. And the cold. Never forget the cold. Even before global warming, it was a place where people said winter is coming without a hint of irony. Then there’s the idea that, because he grew so far from the epicenter of Hip Hop Drake is a lightweight. An interloper playing at something foreign. Add in the controversy with ghostwriters and reference tracks and you get a coalition of people who think Drake is all hot air. A confection. More laffy taffy than U.S steel. Whatever you think of him, though, he’s one of the most ubiquitous and powerful people in Hip Hop.
Chilly has also been the reception to Views, Drake’s ode to his hometown with all its icy metaphors and stripped down production. Some would say it is because Drake, himself, was too cold on this one. A frozen, disappointed wind whipping up through the penthouses, champagne flutes and the Margiela skirts of his buxom beauties. The kind of women men would slap their whole lives to be down with. To be seen with. It shows. He sounded tired. Or, maybe, that’s just the early sun setting on a snow packed city to the north. His very own Winterfell.
Still, Views is immensely listenable if not a mostly insider album speaking to specific references to his beloved kingdom. It’s also one of the most disappointing entries in his catalog. He had a chance to do something completely different, but, instead, he doubled down. Critics tend to call those kinds of choices missed opportunities, at best.
There have been others, though. The heavy handed pop of Thank Me Later, for one. And you can keep all of that in mind as we count down Drake’s projects, now six years into his remarkable ascension, from best to worst.
Best
Take Care
Label: Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Universal Republic Records
Year: 2011
DX Rating: 3.5/5
Metacritic Rating: 78/100
In 2011, Take Care was a genre bomb. DX’s frustratingly low 3.5 rating notwithstanding, Hip Hop was largely still boom-bap with the occasional euro-step into other lanes. The Throne dropped Watch the Throne and Kendrick got revved up with Section.80 that year along with highly touted releases from Bad Meets Evil, A$AP Rocky, J. Cole and a pre-RTJ Killer Mike. Of them all, it would be Drake’s hyper-emotional and melodic style of emceeing combined with slick rhymes and velvety production that would come to define the Toronto sound that’s taken over pop-rap.
It would also be the beginning of Drake’s mastery of the web, as that baroque album cover of Drake leaning forlorn over a goblet would get meme’d to high heaven. To date, what has become Drake’s signature sound has sold over four million copies.
So Far Gone (Mixtape)
Label: October’s Very Own
Year: 2009
DX Rating: N/A
Metacritic Rating: 81/100
The one that started it all. The young Toronto upstart had backing from power players like Jas Prince and Lil Wayne, staggering singles with Trey Songz like “Replacement Girl” with loosies over Wayne beats he wasn’t supposed to have. All this back in the Myspace days. He was still wheelchair Jimmy from Canadian television’s brilliant teen soap Degrassi: The Next Generation for a while there, but that wouldn’t last long. After finding who would become his other half, partnering in creating the Drake sound with Noah “40” Shebib the duo would pen a litany of hits together. “Successful” drew everyone’s attention. Then, of course, the bonafide smash in “Best I Ever Had.” But it was close cuts like “Houstonatlantavegas,” “Lust for Life,” and “Uptown” featuring Bun B and Wayne that would put the world on notice. Some even count this tape as Drake’s purest record, though it wasn’t without its bumps. The raps were at times punishingly amateur. But for creating a mood, this mixtape represented the sound of hits to come.
If Youre Reading This Its Too Late
Label: Cash Money Records, October’s Very Own, Republic Records
Year: 2015
DX Rating: 4.0/5
Metacritic Rating: 78/100
The mixtape came out of nowhere when everyone was looking for the then titled Views from the 6. What Drizzy described as a loose group of tracks he recorded on some rappity rap stuff with Boi-1da, 40, Vinylz, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Travis $cott and Wondagurl in hotel rooms on his Beats 1 radio show ended up being one of the biggest records of 2015. He was represented by most critics at being at the height of his powers. Rap heads were all like “this is acceptable,” and the thing had a waterfall of hits. At one point, the entire album appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. Of course, this one also came with some controversy in the form of ghostwriter allegations by Meek Mill and reference tracks by Quentin Miller being released on New York radio. Of course, that did nothing to stop Drake, who only became bigger after the fray.
Nothing Was The Same
Label: Cash Money Records, Republic Records, October’s Very Own, Young Money Entertainment
Year: 2013
DX Rating: 4.0/5
Metacritic Rating: 79/100
If Take Care was the beginning of the OVO sound, helmed by Noah “40” Shebib, performed and co-written by Drake, then NWTS was the beginning of the formula. He’d found much success throwing his own selfishness under the bus in a slew of one-offs. The album saw that coalesce into a marketable rap action-figure: the sensitive MC. It had never been truly done before. LL Cool J and Ja Rule’s foray into waxy R&B blubber eventually led to fierce clap back. NWTS taught us you had to start that way to be accepted that way.
The braggadocio was still there, along with a frenemy verse from Jigga, ex-girlfriend callouts, and the creeping loneliness that success brings. Balance was achieved. He could distill his myriad of emotions into an elixir that could encapsulate the three-dimensional character of a man with the world in the palm of his hands, but still had to deal with other humans and himself.
Mid Range
What A Time To Be Alive
Label: Cash Money Records, Epic Records
Year: 2015
DX Rating: 3.5/5
Metacritic Rating: 70/100
Spending a week together in an Atlanta studio, Drake and Future concocted the most cockeyed record of 2015. It was a marriage with so much potential and anticipation that the streets seemed to be bursting at the seams. But like Watch the Throne, the tendency to expect too much overshadowed what was a tantalizing party record where neither star shined quite the way they wanted to. That doesn’t make it not special. Metroboomin’ and Southside slathered “Jumpman” and “Diamonds Dancing” in oil mined from the essence of Magic City, and beauties all over the world have been gyrating to this album ever since. It also set off a debate about real rap versus WATTBA. And, despite the fireworks over at Complex, no one really won.
Comeback Season
Label: October’s Very Own
Year: 2007
DX Rating: N/A
Metacritic Rating: N/A
The taste was there. He rapped over instrumentals like Robin Thicke’s sultry standout “Teach You A Lesson” and combined with Little Brother for “Think Good Thoughts.” But he you could still catch him rapping like his idols more than not. Those would include some seemingly strange bedfellows if you watch Drake now. Phonte had a huge impact on the young MC as did Slum Village. Kanye is still there, too. Still, we’re just glad he stopped rapping like Joe Budden by this point.
Worst!
Views
Label: Republic Records, Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment
Year: 2016
DX Rating: 2.9/5
Metacritic Rating: 68/100
Views was bloated and boring to some and unadventurous to others, but it retains a listenability that Drake has utterly mastered. The sprawling twenty track trek through the Toronto of his mind seemed to want to be Lupe’s Tetsuo & Youth with a personal touch, but it fell short, as Drake too frequently sheltered himself beneath his stardom. That doesn’t mean the album doesn’t have moments of frequent poignancy or lines that are so relatable you’d think you had Drizzy’s number in your phone. The eponymous track is cooly brilliant, and there are more where that came from. Alas, however, the album was too shadowy when it descended into winter, and not warm enough when the brief T-dot summer (“One Dance,” “Controlla”) decided to peek out through the clouds. Take heart, though. The album has already gone platinum off the strength of Drake’s superstar appeal and there are enough hits on that thing to last the rest of the year.
Thank Me Later
Label: Cash Money Records, Universal Records
Year: 2010
DX Rating: 2.5/5
Metacritic Rating: 75/100
Coming off the success of So Far Gone, his official debut Thank Me Later was one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2010. For man it was a disappointment. Where was the moodiness of his highly touted mixtape debut? He was already a songwriter extraordinaire, but the soul seemed to be missing. There were standouts. Boi-1da demolished the boards on “Up All Night” and “Miss Me,” for example. But they were few and far between. Even with all of the co-signs.
Room For Improvement
Label: Fear Factor Music, Heartfelt Music Group
Year: 2006
DX Rating: N/A
Metacritic Rating: N/A
Tell the truth, did you think the Toronto kid with the rappity-rap flow that mimicked some of your favorite rappers would become the behemoth he is now? Did you see it, even back then? You’d catch him rapping like Budden or Kanye or whomever and you’d see a faint outline of the talent that would manifest itself later, sure, but you couldn’t tell how far he’d take it. Chances are, he wasn’t even on your radar in 2006 to begin with. Mostly, though, you saw a student absorbing flows and trying to make them his own. A chameleon with flair, at first.
Views wasnt that bad tbh, still pretty versatile
Views wasn’t that bad, it just wasn’t that good! It’s an album that caters to those type of drake fans who want to hear that kind of drake. Views is his “hits” album he had to put one of those out.
Views wasn’t that bad, it just wasn’t that good! It’s an album that caters to those type of drake fans who want to hear that kind of drake. Views is his “hits” album he had to put one of those out.
you can’t really put up valid points to most youngsters they equate sales with who’s the best so in there world mc hammer vanilla ice would be the best guys , hiphop is a culture its more than who’s cashing checks that realization is lost on most of this generation not all but most. hiphop is about authenticity sincerity and such. it is now allowed for rappers to get whole verse written for them which destroys the first un written rules for rapppers and hip hop. until this generation understands theres an essence to this they won’t get it. so conversations can only go so far ,
check it https://soundcloud.com/lacebooms/03-see-how-it-sounds-lacedabooms-1
I checked your soundcloud and your music is dated as fuck. The 90’s already happened and NY lost it’s swag. Make something new!!!!
“My sh*t be like Spanish, 2 yall im Hispanic coz fuckbois dont understand it”
Honestly hiphopdx gave his undoubtedly good albums bad ratings so how can someone even read this or have the nerve to write this bulllshit like its the truth.
All of his albums have been terrible
The verdict is nobody gives a shit about DX editorials, so stop wasting your time, yall garbage.
Opinions
So HipHopDX after several listen feeling guilty, sent Andre Grant to justify they dumb rating with this BS Article.
So HipHopDX after several listen feeling guilty, sent Andre Grant to justify they dumb rating with this BS Article.
that views album is garbage…Drake needs to tell his ghostwriters he needs a refund
Downtown Toronto resembles a “quaint village in England”? Are u fucked?
Say it again…Apparently the author hasn’t really been to the fourth largest city (at least by population) in North America. Stick to “reviewing” the album and not the city…good grief.
Views does get better with each listen. I didn’t like NTWS when I first heard it but it grew on me more and more. Now I think its easily his most cohesive album with no clunkers and is grossly underrated. It’s def better than Take Care which everyone regards as his magnum opus. Although Take Care has some of his best songs, there’s def some filler on there. NTWS cut out the fat of Take Care. IYRITL also has some filler, but is one of his best projects. Thank Me Later is like 5 hits with a bunch of filler. Views is pretty cohesive and is def going over critics heads at this point. I can understand why fans don’t like it cuz its boring the first few listens. It’s also hard to judge Drake albums from a hip-hop perspective cuz he’s a combo of hip-hop and R&B. He’s also added trap and island to his repertoire. He’s like a music gumbo pot that used rap as his springboard to get into the industry. But One Dance, Controlla, Hype, Views are all good songs. He should have included Back to Back, SummerSixteen and other loosies to make it a better project. Like 50 Cent used to do, he gave away his best material and hurt his album with filler.
Wtf lol that bullshit comment was longer then the damn article
this is literally an excuse to trash his new album. This is the kind of stuff I would read on Aol chatrooms in the mid 2000s.
I met your mom in a AOL chatroom son
I met your mom in a AOL chatroom son
I met your mom in a AOL chatroom son
I met your mom in a AOL chatroom son
great article Andre!
He never was the best, he had ghostwriters writing the most cliched rhymes ever. He has always just been a product sold to middle class and rich kids that grew up watching him on Degrassi which was shown on Nickledeon. Here would be an apt comparison, imagine if Omar Gooding who grew up acting in kids show came out as rapper trying to front like he is from the streets. He would have never stood a chance, except to get mocked. Fast forward to the here and now and these idiots follow what Corporate White America tells them to follow
Niggaz plz……… Drake is wack,though he is trying,I rate meek mill ahead of him.but I love them all(No homo) A piece of advice for him,those ghostwritters should refund his money to him.
Keep rambling while Drizzy keeps topping charts.
Drake is an actor. When he raps he is acting. He grew up with money. A good family and no struggles. Drake the rapper is ok but that’s just a character Aubrey graham is playing.
Andre Grant is reaching with this one. Views is a great album….
I think DX is being a little harsh on views…even though I think it was lackluster and all but Drake’s best album was “Nothing was the Same” the singles were good as well as the album cut 2013 was a good year for the kid
Funny how all these Drake stans are caping for Views after being ran out of the review thread the other day. Let it go….better luckk next time….
At this point, he’s putting out albums because he knows no matter how crappy it is the consumers are stupid enough to buy it. It’s not their fault though, the public has been conditioned to like crap now, cause that’s what they have.
Hey Andre do us all a favor and quit your job because you haven’t elevated your listening skills with Views yet and your Boss should axe ya boi. Boring album you say already plat plat one week with hits thru the summer another clouded judgment you either with the 6god or not. What a time mid range man oh man Andre lemme guess you think panda is song of the year right and Desiinger didn’t bite Future at all….
this album is crap ….I don’t care how much it sold …..illi vanilli was also plat first week so was vanilli ice….bottom line this album sucks , far from classic…this album is even worse than the other wack album that had the clouds in the cover
Best to Worst: Take Care, What A Time, Views, So Far Gone, Nothing Was the Same, If You’re Reading This………..Comeback Season and Room For Improvement shouldn’t be counted because it is like a whole other person.
If You’re Reading This is a boring album with almost every song sounding the same. I’d say Take Care, What A Time and Views are the most entertaining and sound good in the whip. I only listen to Drake on an entertainment basis. If I am looking for something deeper, I will listen to someone else.
With the potential he has it’s sort of sad Drake hasn’t made a true “classic” album yet. A few good/great albums. No real classic.
If the only way for Drake to make a classic hiphop album is to not sing in the album, dat will never happen.
The chipettes are mad that Views is considered “meh” lol!
“NEW YORK – APRIL 30: From Degrassi Aubrey Graham speaks at the Spring Awakening and Degrassi panel discussion with Rosie O’Donnell at the Eugene O’Neill Theater on April 30, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)” LOOOOOOOOOOL
This article makes his discography look weak
DX Fingers turn to Clickbait Fingers , You gettin shamed by a singing nigga
VIEWS was supposed to be his magnum opus but it fell under the bar like a limbo – mostly because this was the first time when Drake wanted to make a Drake album. I treated IYRTITL as a collection of leftovers from various projects (mostly from VIEWS though), and as such it did it’s thing well and grew a lot on me over the time. While I think the primacy of TAKE CARE (as his best LP so far) is hardly debatable, NWTS definitely walked in it’s footsteps and it’d have only taken a few stronger songs to catch up with it. THANK ME LATER was indeed unpolished and not a worthy successor of SO FAR GONE, but you can tell the formula was already there and it’s still a pretty good work anway. Speaking about the latter EP, it was one of the best introductions I’ve ever heard when it comes to overall quality and signaled the start of a bunch of upcoming trends. In a perfect world, VIEWS would have turned out to be SO FAR GONE: THE LP. Here and now, the view is still not worth more than a 6 (out of 10).
Highly disagree with this article. Just in case you forgot like Views, Take Care was an album that had to grow on people. Alot of people said when it first came out “the album sound like he crying” or “too much singing”. And to see Thank me later labeled as one of the worst is very inaccurate I’ll listen to that album before most of his mouth music it was a good way for a debut album. Point is just like Take Care, Views will grow on people the longer they listen to it.
views is a piece of shit kys
Unforgettable is his one great song thanks to the Aaliyah sample.
I thought views was solid as fck. The only 2 probs I had with the album:
1.) It is a lot to digest. My nigga could have cut the album down to like 17 tracks and it would hav been just as good
2.) The big-name feature tracks left me disappointed. The PARTYNEXTDOOR feature was aight, the 1 with Rihanna was eh)
Other than that, dope ass album. People just like to hate on Drizzy because he’s larger than life right now. The VIEWS is lonely from the top, i guess! LoL!
Oh and “pop style” is the worst track in Drake’s whole catalogue
No lie Views is the worst album not just by Drake but its the worst ‘hip-hop’ album in years is and its definetly the worst album to go platinum in the last 10 years
No lie Views is the worst album not just by Drake but its the worst ‘hip-hop’ album in years is and its definetly the worst album to go platinum in the last 10 years
No lie Views is the worst album not just by Drake but its the worst ‘hip-hop’ album in years is and its definetly the worst album to go platinum in the last 10 years
There hasn’t been another album like So Far Gone by Drake or anyone else. It is its own genre, and one of the best albums of the 2000s – Drake’s best work in my eyes. Views is a total disappointment, though I love One Dance. I find myself listening to Take Care the second most of Drake’s albums. NWTS was solid, but the records are too depressing to throw on much.
I liked a few So Far Gone tracks and Back To Back but really drake voice n singing is trash he dont write his rhymes is another problem he comes off as a manufactured pop star nothing else he aint no mc. Thank me later was a terrible album i stopped listening to him for years after hearing that trash decided to give him another chance and tried Views smh that was the worst album i heard in years
Take Care, So Far Gone, Thank Me Later, Views, NWTS, IYRT, What a Time. That’s the order it should be. Take Care was a mastered version of So Far Gone. Thank Me Later was kind of mainstream but it was what made drake different from the rest and got him in the eyes of many people. Views was not too exciting but the production was by far the best he’s had since Take Care. Views was a mix of his old music and newer music. NWTS was confusing and too much trap. Only started, tuscan, worst, and pound cake were worthy, the rest was trash. IYRT was too much trap too. Woes, 6man, and madonna were the highlights the rest was trash. What a Time had only one good song and it was Jump man. The rest was drake being featured in Future’s album. Drake is one of the best artist out there, the GOAT of singing rapping but not the GOAT of rap only. Recently he’s trying too hard to be tough. The reason he’s loved so much is because he was never a stereotypical gangster thug life rapper. He made it ok to be sensitive in rap which he took from Kanye originally. I think drake should stop trying to be a tough guy and just stick to what made him what he is today by looking at So Far Gone, Take Care, and Thank Me Later as the blue print to his future albums. None of that trap and wanna be thug life stuff. Leave that to the other rappers.