The wait is finally over for Drake’s VIEWS, an album that has been teased for the better part of two years now. In an ending befitting its long, convoluted roll-out, VIEWS was inauspiciously released at random on Apple Music just as Zane Lowe’s interview with the rapper was unfolding on a special Thursday edition of OVO Sound Radio. It's a 20-track marathon covering the full range of Drake memes. Now that it’s here, there is much to unpack. As you journey through Drake’s Toronto, here's what to know going in.
Familiar names comprise the credits, but there are surprises in the margins:
The featured guests and production credits on VIEWS are dominated by OVO Sound artists/affiliates or other frequent Drake collaborators. Signed crooners PARTYNEXTDOOR and dvsn lend their vocals and Rihanna and Future have substantial contributions to a few standouts. Production is handled primarily by those within Drake’s inner circle: Noah “40” Shebib, Boi-1da, Majid Jordan’s Jordan Ullman, and nineteen85 (who is also one half of dvsn). Contributions are also made by Kanye West, Sevn Thomas, Frank Dukes, Southside, Allen Ritter, and recent addition Maneesh, who produced the Meek Mill diss “Charged Up.” Brian Alexander Morgan, who is best known for his work in the early to mid-’90s with SWV, co-produced “9.” Cardo, Daxz, Murda Beatz, and Beat Bully all have production credits as well.
“U With Me?” opens with a brief sample of DMX’s “What These Bitches Want” and has a full sample of “How's It Goin’ Down.” It also contains elements of the previously leaked song “Views From the 6” (from 2014) with reworked lyrics. “Weston Road Flows” features a warped sample of Mary J. Blige’s “Mary’s Joint.” The same unearthed Pimp C verse used in Jay Z’s “Tom Ford” Remix is used on “Faithful.” Popcaan, who appeared on the leaked version of “Controlla” is not on the album version. This version samples Beenie Man’s “Tear Off Mi Garment” and adds an outro from the dancehall legend for good measure. "Child's Play" samples the New Orleans bounce classic "Rode That Dick Like A Soldier" by Ha-Sizzle. Popcaan’s absence from “Controlla” is balanced by the sample of his “Love Yuh Bad” that made it into the Rihanna-featuring “Too Good.” Closer “Views” samples “The Question Is” by the Winans. Drake seems to be following Kanye’s lead with an album-by-committee approach on this one.
Notable Drake-y one-liners:
- “I group DM my exes” (from “U With Me?”)
- “Don’t you see RiRi right next to me?” (from “Hype”)
- “I gave your nickname to someone else” (from “Redemption”)
- “This year for Christmas I just want apologies” (from “Redemption)
- “That pussy know me better than I know myself” (from “Faithful”)
- “Let’s do the things that we say on texts” (from “Faithful”)
- “Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake?” (from “Child’s Play”)
- “You wildin’, you super childish, you go to CVS for Kotex in my Bugatti” (from “Child’s Play”)
- “I’m way too good to you” (from “Too Good”)
- “Numbers going unlisted just to create some distance” (from “Views”)
Drake continues to proudly rep Toronto, but the “6” talk seems to be dying down a bit:
The album is no longer called Views From the 6, but Drake still may as well be perched on the CN Tower. From the outset, there is a reference to Toronto’s Kennedy Road (previously mentioned on “Energy”). “I turn the six upside down, it’s a nine now,” he raps on follow-up “9.” On “Hype,” he raps “Six colder than Alaska/ VIEWS already classic.” The aptly-titled “Weston Road Flows” finds Drake reminiscing about his upbringing in Toronto, with references to singer Glenn Lewis and the Toronto Transit Commission.
Local hostility continues to build. A bar like, “You platinum like rappers on Hershey's boy that shit is worthless” could be taken as a shot at fellow Torontonian Tory Lanez, who very recently was certified platinum, largely because of the RIAA’s new streaming formula. On “Still Here,” he again references Toronto locales, this time Jane and Weston. There’s more six talk later on: “Whole lot of sixes but I'm still like/ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah/ six point star, lion of the Judah.” One more six drop, fittingly on the title track: “Running through the six, storming through the contracts.” Though there are the handful of mentions above, for the most part, as the title change implies, he seems to be backing away from the overt re-branding campaign of his native Toronto.
Drake is going global:
Some of VIEWS confirms what the lead-in seemed to indicate: a pivot toward the global, specifically rhythms of the Caribbean and Africa. Samples of artists Popcaan, Movado, and Beenie Man bridge generations of dancehall. He even busts out his patois on a handful of occasions. “One Dance” with Afropop singer Wizkid and Kyla remains the centerpiece for those vibes. A few songs don’t share that lineage but are driven by its gyrational spirit, namely “Child’s Play” (which owes its debt to New Orleans bounce) and “With You.” There are still plenty of slow-moving, atmospheric "40" specials here filled with Drakeisms like “All of my ‘Let’s Just Be Friends’ are friends I don’t have anymore,” but they’re spaced evenly throughout. This is Take Care at the bashment, triple-texting an ex while whining on the dance floor to a dancehall riddim.
The digital booklet replaces liner notes with staged hi-res photographs:
Listeners who were hoping to peer behind the curtain of VIEWS and get really deep into its creation with the digital booklet will be disappointed. Instead of getting detailed liner notes, listeners were provided images of twins in expensive winter coats, Drake in expensive pajamas in a hotel beside a hookah pipe, Drake standing side-by-side with a Rolls Royce in front of a mansion, and Drake with the OVO brain trust. Seeing who mixed what will have to wait.