A lOOK AT “HONESTLY,NEVERMIND”
Written by: IJR (@ONLY.IJR)
Honestly, Nevermind is the latest studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. The album came to us in the month of June as a surprise release only nine months after the rapper’s most highly anticipated project to date, Certified Lover Boy, and after months of radio silence from Drake in terms of solo releases, no one could have seen his next move coming. Honestly, Nevermind is Drake’s most experimental project to date, and it's easy to see that for fans, this is his most confusing move to date as well. The project houses a total of fourteen tracks and none of them seem to fit into Drake’s typical style or sound, containing elements of house, and electronic dance music in general. For the past few weeks, all through social media reception towards Drake’s latest was for the most part negative with a few positives ones here and there, but generally, the opinion seemed to be the same, Drake had officially missed.
For the first week or so I was in agreement that Drake had definitely taken an L, but as more and more details surrounding the project began to surface, I found myself a little more willing to give it a second chance. I remember wondering, am I being a little too harsh towards Drake? After a few listens I decided that I was definitely being harsh on Drake, as it seems he delivered a project with some solid ideas, but unfortunately poor execution at times. Everything about the production is honestly great, now is it perfect or innovative? No not at all, but drake manages to take beats inspired by the tastes of his late friend Virgil Abloh, and add his own twist by rapping and singing in ways that only drake could. If you have no clue where to start with this project, as it can be a little confusing if you’ve never gotten into the EDM sound, I recommend trying out “massive” and “Sticky,” two tracks where Drake gets to showcase his smooth vocals, as well as ultimately deliver some cool bars over a fun and bouncy Jersey club-style beat.
Finally, before you look sideways at Drake for his seemingly strange instrumental choices, let's not forget that while the project does indeed contain a few sleepers, this album seems to come from a place of love and admiration as Drake pays homage to his late friend Virgil, who was a big lover of the electronic scene, and honestly, that bit of information gives the project something that most of his projects seem to have been lacking in lately, a purpose beyond cliche R&B or chart-topping rap songs. And I commend Drake for this move.
