Drake - Thank Me Later

Ok I was gonna wait til the homies album was actually released on the 15th but I might not care to write about it then. Young ADG steps to the plate to deliver his first official major label CD. Thank Me Later (Kanye had a book entitled Thank You and You're Welcome..which is a little more arrogant and balla...but) starts off with FireWorks ft. Alicia Keys. On this Alicia sounds like a sample the way she just cuts off as the hook ends. The 3rd verse to this song is the best part. "40" who produces the majority of the tracks on the album has a very minimalistic approach to beats. Lots of the production sounds incomplete in a way, but that's his style I guess. The next song Karaoke is pretty bad so I skip it. I hate the beat lyrics ahhhh skip skip skippity do da. The Resistance is the shit! Drake chanting that people promised that he would "never change," is the reality that he brings to his music that I enjoy. I skip "Over" at this point. The Kanye West produced "Show Me A Good Time," is ahhh good time. And the mixing of him saying "Ah Yeah" on the hook is hilarious! "Up All Night" ft. Nicki Minaj is cool. The beat is dope, produced by Boi-1da but Nicki's verse is hot and cold. "I look like yes, and you look like no," is kinda weak but then she states "which bitch you know made a million off a mixtape?" Now that's a statement. "Fancy" should def be a single. It's a good song with a great vibe, and Swizz is my dude. "Shut It Down" ft. The Drama Queen, I mean The Dream should be Shut DOWN!!!! Horrible, bad bad bad. Dream's annoying voice mixing with Drake's annoying voice is a terrible idea. "Unforgettable" ft. Young Jeezy features a dope Aaliyah sample. The hook is kinda weird though and hard to distinguish. "Light Up" ft. Jay-Z is ill. Drake's verse is ill and reflects the early 90's coming up and Jay-Z sheds light and gives advice to the young boy. Even though HOV tried to slip in a triple entendre??? C'mon son. Hour, Owls and Owww??? Nawh. "Miss Me" ft. DeWayne Carter is cool, Wayne doesn't really talk about anything on his verse but then again...he never really does. But it almost seemed like this song should have a point or main theme..It's called Miss Me right!! "Cece's Interlude" is garbage trash. "Find Your Love" is a great song to me. The hyponotic chants of "Hey, Hey, Hey" though very What's Happening-ish, and the bold statements he made make the song a hit. "Thank Me Now" is a great closer. Doesn't sound like a Timbaland beat at all, but it works.

Overall, I give this CD a 7 out of 10. Too much singing brings this down for me. Don't get me wrong his singing is cool, but when you are doing boy band duets with The Dream lines must be drawn. This is no So Far Gone, and Drake still lacks a bite or aggressiveness to make me think that he is anything but an emo heartbroken rapper. He is like the rap version of Kid Cudi. Drake has his lane and drives in it well. A few bumps in the road that may get smoothed out eventually or just may get deeper. It's funny that the same thing that I like about him is thing that I dislike aswell. His ability to draw for his life and put his emotions and feelings on the line is admirable but gets dull after a few runs and turns into a one trick Royal Mountie Pony.