If You're Reading This It's Too Late

So Far Gone is the reason for my current interest level in music - I played it exclusively for weeks when it came out; it was the first mixtape I downloaded; it was the first full body of music I listened to that didn’t have my parents approval. I’ve bought every album he’s made since and heard every song he’s made period. I’ve seen him rock haircuts and outfits almost identical to mine within weeks of me. There was a girl who said I looked like Jimmy from Degrassi in 7th grade, and billions who have said I look like Drake since; a kid in Denny’s has asked me for my autograph. Some days I swear if I weren’t Christian I would have been him, to a T. It’s absurd really. The point is, Aubrey Drake Graham and I have a deep history, he doesn’t know it, but we do. That’s what makes this review so hard. This is the divergent point between he and I.

I’ve written it in different words before, but it bears repeating: if an artist isn’t progressing, I’m not continuing to support them. Now this obviously depends heavily on your definition of progressing. I’m sure he’s making more money now, he tells me all the time. He has like 10 styles, and they’re all on point. His timing is super precise. His beat selection is better than it used to be, and his voice sounds more mature. Yet, for some reason I have to skip most of the songs. Why my friends? Because I’m about to have a son. My son can hear the outside world, and while he may not comprehend the lyrics, these sounds don’t bring the joy and innocence with which I want him intro’d to life. I can’t have him exposed to this hypersexual, unnecessarily violent, subliminally entrancing set of sounds. There’s a point in a man's life where he can no longer separate what he allows himself to be exposed to and what he claims to support. And although it's later than it should've been, that point for me is now.

Let me touch on progression for a sec. Erika's said for a while that Drake seems sad, she says he seems whiny. I think he seems lonely. And people are allowed to be lonely, some of the best music comes from sadness. But he has gotten sadder with every release, and it’s 100% his fault. He chose to put money and pride above friendship and genuineness. I know there’s an alternate Drake that pops up on SNL and in interviews, and I think he has everyone including himself fooled that MusicDrake is still the epidermis. But Aubrey, let me tell you from experience that your outer layer can penetrate all the way to your soul if you don't shed it every so often. So whether or not you have more or better versions of what you used to have, progression to me is doing what you have to do to let go of the old way of living.

Aight so let’s back this up, cuz what I've said so far has more to do with his development as an artist than with this mixtape in particular. 

If You're Reading This You’re Too Late is sad, and that pro(re)gression I just spent 3 paragraphs speaking on is apparent. He’s transitioned to a sort of Canadianized Chief Keef trap synth machine in his cadence, and while I do like the accent and the direction he’s going with sampling, every reverse cymbal makes me think he’s regressing into a sadness that he should have overcome by now. It’s a strange dichotomy to analyze. On one hand, the drums and effects fit right in with the aggression most of the tracks call for, but on the other, that aggression is unwarranted. And since Drake really did usher in most of the new school, whose merits are based on a hyperbolic level of honesty and sensitivity, puffing yourself up to look stronger only abandons that philosophy, which - regardless of how good it sounds - somehow seems faker than saying you have a bunch of money that you don’t. So people aren’t really buying it. Plus, the love and support throughout his entire life far surpasses that of most of the opponents he claims to be king of, so the only thing that has really inhibited him are peers in similar positions who are perturbed that he's doing well, which in actuality are few. So you’d think all things considered he’d make a song (or an album) about how thankful he is to have what he does, and how he’s trying to settle down to make room in his present for a future, but instead we get 17 tracks of Drizzy telling us how women don’t deserve him, peers don’t respect him, and his family is falling apart. I can’t empathize Drake; you’re too intelligent in your other endeavors for me to buy that if that’s really your life, that it’s by the fault of someone else. You gotta choose if what you sing about longing for is worth changing over, and if not, stop singing and longing for it. Give me an OVO Good Fridays, or at least something uplifting. I mean J. Cole came from harder times than you and we got 2014 FHD on his 3rd album. You should be there dog, cheer up pup.

On a more positive note though, the music is well done, which is more a credit to 40 than anything, but you know Drake has his hands in the production process. And before I categorize it, Drake has been quoted saying "I make music almost exclusively for the purpose of driving at night” - if that's still the case, he nailed it. So at first listen, it sounds a lot like the usual minor-key, synth-heavy Toronto sound, but after you go through it a few times you start hearing some of the southern (Memphis, Houston) tweaks dropped here and there. The synths and drums are tightened up so it’s less flowy and more bumpy and intensified, there are more orchestral instruments (albeit digital) flavoring what would otherwise be soggy soundscapes, and like I said, samples, of which I am a huge fan.

On that, any major rap album you hear today is gonna be chocked full of samples; even if they're not the centerpiece of the track, they're in there somewhere. And they generally follow a formula. Usually they're soul or previous rap songs, cut at a bar and pitched up at least an octave to the key of the song, but not here. IYRTITL not only makes some interesting picks, but chops and pitches them in unusual ways. Firstly they're almost all pitched down (thanks Houston). Next, they're cut not at bars but at specific lyrics, not so that the sampled lyrics become part of the song like you'd hear in "Oh Boy", but so that the flipped sample can serve as part of the ambience. And that’s the secret to ridin music friends. So overall, good work on sampling.

The rhyme schemes are more complex and varied too, and the longwinded verses really play well with the slightly repetitive instrumentation. One thing all his new styles have in common is aggressiveness. Even the less menacing bottom half of the tape keeps a more punctuated scheme. His words don't trail off at the end like they used to, there's a lot less pitch in the lyric sections, and way more adlib vocal noises so as to make it sound more conversational. He even says "I really hate usin this tone with you momma". He's just overall meaner, which depending on who you ask, could be good or bad. 

So whether you’ll miss or can’t wait for to leave the mild-mannered, soft-hearted, oft-complaining, stripper-saving, Rahat-helping, love-hating, rap-singing Drake of old, the overconfident in how well he knows himself new Drake is here. I still think you should listen to the mixtape, but be wary of liking it too quickly. The music is high quality, as you should expect, and it’s definitely honest. But it’s depressing by virtue of the artist who made it. I realize a lot of my own aspirations are projected onto this review, but if you saw an alternate you making what you felt was a mistake, you'd feel obligated to speak your mind. So Drake, If you’re reading this, it’s not too late. But I’m not buying Views From the 6 if this is the direction you’re going. And on an unrelated note, you have terrible handwriting, maybe start there.

Rating: 5.5

Favorite Song: Jungle