By Cristian Padilla
Photo by Getty Images.
“$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” is Drake‘s newest album in collaboration with PARTYNEXTDOOR. This is his first release since the mind-blowing Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl performance. With 21 tracks and a runtime of 74 minutes, is it even worth listening to?
Drake has been known for releasing subpar projects as of late. With a new collaborator in the mix, it could’ve been different this time and exceeded everyone’s expectations. Along with having a questionable title, neither artist delivered the way fans hoped. While many were waiting for a classic R&B sound, they were met with another sound more similar to Drake’s more recent projects.
As the album begins, we’re hit with Drake being basic and trying to return to his roots. He tries to create a modern R&B song but defaults to an older Drake sound. While the songs do not sound bad as we progress through the album, it begins to get repetitive and boring. Some standouts include “SPIDER-MAN SUPERMAN” and “GIMME A HUG”, while the rest of the songs blend into each other repetitively.
The production can be good at times but slowly becomes lackluster. The further and further you get, the more it feels like the team is working to make a decent product while running out of ideas. It falls into a cycle of making the same songs over and over again. It’s not 71 minutes wasted after listening, but the duo could have definitely made their work more well-rounded.
There’s an attempt with track 13, “MEET YOUR PADRE” featuring OVO co-signed artist Chino Pacas, a sierreño artist making waves in his scene. It was a waste of what could have been a great feature. Drake attempts a weird Spanglish piece with heavy autotune and cringey lines. While he isn’t a perfect Spanish speaker, he has shown us what he can do with songs like “MIA” with Bad Bunny, where he performs on another level in comparison to what he was trying to do in this recent project. It has now become an infamous display of Drake’s fall off, going viral on social media platforms such as TikTok for how bad it is.
There is a lot to dislike, but the project does have some highlights. “NOKIA” also went viral for its vocals. The line “Babygirl, let me see you do your dance, let me see you twirl” (sung by the song’s producer, Elkan) made its rounds on the internet for its humorous and exaggerated pronunciation. The song is a fun and enjoyable display of what a good feature can do for a song. It has constantly been in my rotation since it came out.
“GIMME A HUG” is another enjoyable listen. It’s a harder song with a solid beat switch near the middle that is sure to make your head bop with a face of disgust.
Drake has his highs and lows, but PARTYNEXTDOOR is completely uninteresting the whole time. He adds almost nothing to the project, constantly being overshadowed by Drake. His vocals may be impressive at times, but he is one of the main reasons the album feels so bland. PARTYNEXTDOOR remains repetitive, almost never switching up his style. He’s been able to show what he has to offer in his previous features on other artists’ songs and even with his solo work. However, he isn’t close to delivering what many would have hoped for from him.
Overall, the album is dull and repetitive, momentarily being brought back to life with small, memorable moments. Outside of those, however, the project feels like a one-hour-long song that you play in the background. This album gets a 5/10.