Dear Drake (re: Thank Me Later)

I wish someone could have put me in front of a magic crystal ball a year and a half ago when I was playing 'Comeback Season' and 'So Far Gone' into the ground. In fact, I wanted to post this in a week, when 'Thank Me Later' officially dropped (#shoutout to the internet for leaking EVERYTHING nowadays), but the ringing in my ears was reason enough for me to keep writing. You see, Drake, I'm a rare fan. I've been listening since 'Comeback Season' first dropped. Before that, I'd only known you as Jimmy Brooks from DeGrassi, as most people did. After hearing the last bar on that mixtape, I didn't think you were hip-hop's savior, but just another rapper; a good one, albeit. There was something so, so organic about 'Comeback Season'. You really sounded like a rapper who was struggling to find his sound, his place in the industry and a mate, things I could relate to. Upon listening to 'So Far Gone', it was evident that you had stumbled onto something bigger. You were suddenly the Golden Child of hip-hop, able to cross the bridge that hadn't been traversed since the days of 'Get Rich or Die Trying': a sound that the hip-hop heads and labels could agree on; music that not only got you nodding your head, but thinking about the lyrics; an artist the caliber of Will Smith, who could bring together the galvanized nature of hip-hop. Hell, you even said it on 'Ignorant Shit':

Me doin' a show is getting everyone nervous / cause them hipsters gon' have to get along with them hood niggas

That was 2009, the year everyone found out about you... And the year the Drake of old would be 'So Far Gone'. Enter June 2, 2010. I entered my Twitter account as I do most weekday mornings to find that 'Thank Me Later' had been leaked. T'wasn't the biggest surprise in the world, considering 3/4 of the album was already in circulation on the blogs. Drake, I'll make no secrets about it. I obtained 'Thank Me Later' through less than legal means. As a huge rap fan, my impatience outweighed the need to pad your wallet. That said, it sucks to see what you've worked hard for 3 years for, just fall through the cracks 2 weeks before you were ready for it to drop. Yet and still, in this day and age when little is held in confidence, you should be somewhat happy that it leaked so close to the release date, and that it was a limited leak. Even so, I was still surprised to find how much sh*t heads (including myself) were talking about the album. I thought people were 'fans'. I thought I was a fan. Upon my first listening to the album, I thought 'Damn, this isn't the Drake I expected. This sucks!!!'

That was pure folly on my part. Drake, after my second listen all the way through, I commend you. 'Thank Me Later' wasn't a swagger-laced ode to money, power and women, though it spoke of it heavily. It also wasn't full of love songs, though love was a major theme in it. The excesses, triumphs and perks of fame were prevalent, though they seemed to be more of a bane than a spoil to you. Drake, 'Thank Me Later' sounded like an ode to a simpler time in your life. So much of the album is about the changes you've endured not only personally, but in terms of your surroundings. As the chorus to 'Over' says, there are so many new faces around that at some point you have to say 'Who the f*ck are y'all??' 'Thank Me Later' is one of the most honest, sincere and ingenuous albums I've heard in a year or two. Whereas people (including myself) were looking for more of the same Drake from the past year, it seems like you've reverted to the Drake right before 'So Far Gone,' focused yet limber, idealistic yet cynical. It's actually a really good look for you. It's not the vapid existence I've grown to loathe over the past year, though it's not the naive Drake whose love is given freely and taken for granted. In terms of a sound, the album is one of the cleanest I've heard this decade. Every beat sounds wonderfully mastered and there aren't stray sounds or white noise that detract from the instrumentals. The way acoustic instruments and digital synthesizers are used together is damn near masterful.

'Thank Me Later' has depth that not everyone can appreciate. When I say that, I mean the heads who dislike the album aren't seeing it through your eyes. They want the glamorized, glitzy 2-bit punchlines that Lil' Wayne instilled in you. They can't grasp the introspective nature of some of the songs. It's as if you're trying to give the listeners a glimpse into fame through your eyes, but they're so jaded by the fame that they hear an artist bitching and rapping about things that are irrelevant to them. Drake, I'm by no means saying 'Thank Me Later' is one of the classics. In fact, I'd still say 'Comeback Season' and 'So Far Gone' have a little more *umph* to them. Sometimes it did seem as if you were revisiting themes and lacking punchlines. However, for an album, and a debut album at that, it's hard to do much better than you did, especially with the weight and expectations of all of hip-hop riding on your coattails. 'Thank Me Later' has radio tracks already and has tracks that one would only listen to by themselves. People will knock their heads to it, and certainly buy it. It might not go platinum, but it will probably be the best-selling album of the year, unless Kanye & Eminem go bananas on their offerings. I won't offer up any #dopetracks for this review considering it's a letter, but if I had to pick one, 'Thank Me Now' is the strongest track on my opinion. It's ironic that the track that signals 'Thank Me Later' is 'Over' is the one that sounds the most like a new beginning. I guess all we can do now is listen and wait. Kudos for a dope album...