Drake’s now released What A Time To Be Alive is much more than just a collaborative mixtape-as-album released with croon-rapping Atlanta-based trap icon Future. Not unlike Drake’s February-debuted surprise platinum-seller If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, it’s a great chance to see Drake figuring out what’s stylistically next for him. Though not the blow away success that meets the considerable hype surrounding its debut, What A Time To Be Alive certainly features 2015’s top-selling rap superstar duo turning up and having a helluva lot of fun.
Drake comfortably slides into a celebratory, just past peak-hour at Atlanta’s Magic City strip club feel on #WATTBA. In 11 tracks, the hooks deliver as expected while par for the course bars from Future blend with Drizzy’s almost scientific desire to figure out how to get maximal impact from the minimalist style. Of course this was made popular by the artist who in 2015 has also released his third album, Billboard album chart-topper DS2.
Conceptually, more important to note than anything is the historical impact of Lil Wayne’s career decisions upon Drake’s career aims. Similar to what Weezy did in 2006-2007, Drake’s used mixtapes in 2014 to step back from releasing a proper album and attempt to dig deeper into a plethora of styles, flows and cultures in order to gain a more well-rounded sense of how he can continue to dominate the rap industry from both a creative and hit-making standpoint.
Significant in Drake’s quest to really evolve yet again as an artist is the presence of Atlanta veteran and frequent Future associate Metro Boomin as the release’s lead producer, instead of say, OVO Sound’s Noah “40” Shebib who only contributes stellar, swelling and soulful mixtape closer “30 For 30 Freestyle.” The song maybe warrants for more OVO involvement on the album as “30 For 30” exceeds Metro Boomin-produced “Big Rings” and “Scholarships” as athletic-themed tracks on the album.
Much ado will be made in the press (and likely on the Billboard charts as well) about “Diamonds Dancing,” “Jumpman,” “Change Locations” and “I’m the Plug,” which are an impressive quartet of excellent tracks all featuring varying levels of chopping and swirling production. Putting this many great tracks on one largely Metro Boomin-produced mixtape has the equivalent impact of his earlier Future-featuring hits “Karate Chop,” “Honest,” “I Won” and “Blow A Bag” being available in the same collection of tunes.
Drake takes his talent as a hook man to another level on What A Time To Be Alive and in putting his elevated skills alongside Future’s, he creates some truly must-listen moments. “Me and my friends we got money to spend” from “Change Locations” feels as good as the hook from Drake’s breakout single “Best I Ever Had.” Also, “go ahead and pick up all that cash, you deserve it” is intriguing because it feels aped from Future’s single “You Deserve It” from his 2012 album Pluto, and makes “Plastic Bag” inherently vivid, relatable and the best of the album-level mixtape’s “filler” material.
The mixtape’s best overall track may be “I’m The Plug,” a boastful anthem where Future discusses his success at having “a gang of women” and a “gang of drugs;” a notion that ultimately allows him to feel like the “plug,” aka the one man able to connect the finest of all things to those associates who desire them. Drake also delivers his most deft bars of the entire mixtape here, too. Drake’s still on the wave of trying to “do right and kill everything” as some eight years after his rise, he’s “doing 300 records a day, who really think they can get in the way.” Furthermore, when you can rap about how “Red Bull really gave you wings,” then nonchalantly complete the punchline a half-bar later and allow it to seamlessly lead into the next set of rhymes, that’s when you know one’s on another level.
Insofar as Future, as an emcee, he does very little on this mixtape to give anyone a sense that he’s going to be challenging Kendrick Lamar for being the most socio-politically relevant emcee in the game. His job here is to provide a tone that succeeds in resonating well against the minor-key led soul symphonies crafted by Metro Boomin. Whereas Drake here is the more classic R&B vocalist, Future is much more the singer as auto-tuned woodwind-style instrument, a lane that Young Thug has more so completely owned as of late.
In this being positioned as more of “Drake’s latest release” than a “Drake and Future collaboration,” do expect that the chart topping single lacking in Metro Boomin and Future’s collaborative history is likely to occur in short order. When Future says that he “feels like he’s at the stage of his life where he feels like he can conquer anything and everything” on “Diamonds Dancing,” he has no idea how right he could be.
In 2015, Drake’s released three top-ten Billboard rap chart singles. As well, he’s become the poster-boy of Apple’s move into streaming content, all while besting Meek Mill in a rap feud and canoodling with Serena Williams, too. As well, Future’s weathered the storm of his high profile breakup from Ciara and released an album bursting with heavyweight trap anthems. Adding an almost mindless, yet still hit-laden mixtape with Metro Boomin to their year? For Drake and Future, it’s certainly an amazing time to be alive.
The album felt too rushed. Average at best
i wonder who wtote this slbum?
yo mama buh she didnt go 2 skul did she hater lol
I really liked how you guys wrote a bunch of stuff but you are basically going around the fact that the project feels rushed and as a whole its mediocre.
Wait… holyshit you guys gave this shit a 3.5 out 5?!?
Wtf is happening in the world if you gave this such a high rating…
I’m almost 100% sure there are a plethora of albums that are better than this that you rated lower. The only way you could give this 3.5 is if you are a Future fan and thus comparing this to his body of work but to hold this to any standard of quality Hip Hop, this is a 2.5 at best.
Ovokid is the illegitimate step child of Lil’ Wayne & Superhead
This shit was terrible! I’m tired of all these Drake fans and future hype beasts and I’m from Atlanta. This shit was TRASH. This shit was so average and not worth a penny of my money. This shit was hyped cuz of Drake
I like his music don’t get me wrong but people have been disrespecting hip hop because of this man. Comparing him to Kanye and Jay Z is insanity when Kanye has 4 straight rap classics as well as Hov. Drake hasn’t made anything comparable and is being hyped because of social media. When Drake drops a song, people are dissecting it to find quotes on Instagram and memes because it’s the cool thing to do.
But comparing Drake to the greatest rappers of all time is straight blasphemous when he can’t even drop 1 straight rap classic. ONE. So get the fuck outta here. I hate this generation of followers. Social media is ruining everything.
Can relate to! Although I love drakes new music….this shit must be in pop and rnb charts. hip hop changed….
You sound so old! the world is changing…get used to it.
First of all, Take Care and So Far Gone are classic albums that stand the test of time. Both have been ranked high on many best albums of the past 10-15 year lists. To the guy complaining about this being pop and r&b…Drake always sings!! Did you listen to So Far Gone or Take Care?
None of those two albums are classics and have not stood the test of time.
This review sounds like it should be in the Wall Street Journal. Instead of talking about the music, the tip toe around it and talk about each artist’s popularity, and what the marketing strategy probably was around this “project”. You know what it is, they knew if they threw something together real quick, and put their names on it, people would gravitate toward it. I don’t knock these men for taking advantage of the opportunity they have been given, but call it what it is, don’t try and force praise on the project because from the writing alone, it sounds like you were ordered to say something positive about an obvious jumbled mess.
So they made this in 6 days and u can tell it sucks A$$. Jump mam jump man HOW MANY TIMES AREYOU GOING TO REPEAT THIS?! Horrible. The beats are so elementary level, its jot funny. Hip hop today has no real producers besides dre, neptunes and timbaland.
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League too
…Mac Miller is a BEAST producer, he damn near produces all his own beats and if he isn’t using his own then Earl Sweatshirt is producing beats for him, who is also a beast producer.. And come on now, you know Noah “40” is beast with the shits..
THIS ALBUM IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE ONE THE PROFIT MUHAMMAD MADE WITH HIS CAMEL CLYDE CALLED “YODELLING WITH MY BUTT BUDDY, ALLAH FUCKTARD!!!” I NEVER THOUGHT I’D HEAR ANYTHING WORSE THAN THAT BUT THIS TOPS IT. ALLAH FUCKBAR!!!
really… I bet you wont say anything close like that in real life. Coward
Why does every mainstream album on hhdx in get a 3.5. Like seriously you gave almost every album this year a 3.5 or 3 which dosn’t really tell us anything, and defeats the whole point of a review.
They give almost everything mainstream or not, between a 3.5-4.5 with an occasional 3 and a once in a blue 5. While I’m glad they don’t give out too many 5’s, I think the 4.5’s are very misleading.
Future only has one flow and drake went along with Future’s flow and it doesn’t sound right. What a horrible album.
^This
Comment of the Year. Future only has one flow and Drake went along with it. The game is getting weird im telling ya. Now we have a YODELLIN mf named Fetty Wap, straight up yodelling like a german. Awful.
I wish I could get my money back from iTunes. Drake is similar to Nike and Jordan brand, even when they release trash people are going to eat it up. Hypebeasts are ruining the world.
Real shit! Artists get to a certain point where its like they can do no wrong no matter what they put out its ¨hot¨ just cuz of the name behind it. I hate that shit
u can get a refund from iTunes though
i dont love this album as a huge Drake fan but I do respect how Drake always takes musical risks. I also find Drake’s record grow on you so we will wait and see if this one does. Its 3.5 album.
What musical risks? Stealing other rappers’ styles, flows, and lyrics?
I wonder if drake pays his ghost writers more now that it’s common knowledge that he has writers. Like 5 thousand a month for Q Miller feels too low for all the hits he made for drakes IYRTITL. Party next door, p reign, that Tuesday guy..lol, and everyone else drake needs to make hits should ask for a raise.
This is not a good album drake and future together is not cohesive. It feels like drake dumb his self down for future (Unbelievable) and it shows in the music
So much hate on here. Y’all mad because Drizzaveli Da 6 God can go gold in a week and Kendrick can’t. This is a turn up album, so it’s meant to be more about fun and less about lyrics, but you got the 30 For 30 Freestyle for that. Great album. Give it a 5 to balance the hate. #DrakeIsLoveDrakeIsLife
there are 0 5 man. Stupid drake fans can’t even rate shit.
I can tell you don’t know shit about hip hop drake dont write his music 2pac does pac went diamond drake didnt hip hop belongs to pac not wayne not drake or jay z pac is the goat
What the fuck is a Drizzaveli? Don’t ever compare Drake to Tupac you idiot, Its okay to be a fan of his but he’s not in the conversation of legendary status like Pac or even Biggie, Big Pun, Big L, Eazy E, Jay Z, Nas, or The Game.
I give it a negative 12 just cause it sucks worse then every Yung Joc album ever made
Drake is really good at pretending to be a rapper and spitting other peoples lyrics otherwise he is like Will Smith but not as cool or funny or talented or educated or as rich but he is like him
3/5
Future sounds the same on every track
flamessssss
This Album was meant to make quick money. Soon they’re going to plan a tour together and make tons of millions….. wait for it…. and millinos. The album was okay Metro Boomin is a beast and I definitely think that 30 for 30 freestyle was awesome which I think totally saved the album. Shout out to 40 with the smoothness he brings to the music he produces.
I dont like Future’s music but I do like Drake. I give it a 2 out of 5. None of the songs are memorable. There isnt one song that I want to hear a 2nd time. #throwawaysongs #idontlikeclubmusic
Why are you putting hashtags in a comment section?
That is a very high rating for this album. 2/5.
classic b
LMAOOOO
This album is great vibes when your lit!
music for clubs, hoes and wanna be trap drug dealers. conscious niggas like me listen miles davis and meditate and eating raw food. #consciouslifestyle #stillrealniggatho
salute
Isn’t Future just saying random words with different effects added to it? I don’t see the talent whatsoever. I can fux with Drake though, but Future – I was hoping this album would be good. Glad I didn’t pay for it.
Futures weak on this, Drakes half effort still stand out against it.
Can’t stop listening to this album. Drake and Metroboomin’ need to collaborate more, this album could have been a classic if Future wasn’t on it. OVO KILLING’ IT !!!!!!
Terrible LMAo
I think some of y’all were just waiting for this to drop just to shit all over it when it came out. I never really got into Future, but on some turn up shit. On some just vibing out without worrying about some sort of message, there are some good moments on this album. People just wanna hate Drake because he stays winning more than anyone in the game right now and hip hop “purists” hate on Future because he doesn’t say shit important. Haters. You’re a plague.
It really wasn’t vey good, u can tell drake aint use to working as quickly as future, and the results were lack luster future songs w lazy drake verses, theres probably 4 goood tracks 2 of them are the solo songs
Terrible, not a single good track on it
Drake’s as terrible as ever, Future was alright but really wish Future kept away from his wack ass. No where near the same level as Watch the Throne. Was worried when they announced this that it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but god it was so bad. I was hoping for at least some bangers, but this was garbage. Feel bad for Future cuz it seem like some of Drake’s awfulness rubbed off on him.
This “album” is the worst. Listened to it once and will never play it again. Drake sounds asleep on every track and every track sounds the same – like garbage. Drake keeps getting away with this lazy rap shit – they call it minimalistic. His last two albums are boring. I like Drake but he needs to come with more bangers on his albums. This shit right here, nigga……hot garbage.
This was terrible. I can’t listen to a single track other than 30/30…How can you give this such a high praise rating. Come on HHDX!
It grew on me!
Horrible!!!!!!!!!!!
Go ahead and pick up all da cash……
It’s actually pretty good. It bumps in the whip man.
What a time…. to be alive!!!
You and yours… Verse me and mines
It was a good project. Lots of holes in it. I didn’t really enjoy future in some parts, he was down right annoying in a couple songs. I don’t like some of Drake’s part in a few songs. Big Rings was so annoying to me. Still there’s records like Plastic Bag and Diamonds Dancing which made it much more bearable. Jumpman was cool but it got overplayed and I never really liked the record that much when I first heard it. Drake’s 30 for 30 was great moment of consciousness, Drake really assessed his superiority in the game with that record. Facts. Good project but I wouldn’t come back to it to often. It deserves a low 4.
I personally liked it take and future are good together.