“When it gets a little chilly, PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake album will be right there for you.” Canadian artist Drake announced a collaboration with R&B artist PARTYNEXTDOOR at his surprise “PARTYNEXTDOOR and Friends” concert in August of 2024, and on Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day — the album “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” was released. The two artists have collaborated on previous albums, some notable tracks being “Recognize” by PARTYNEXTDOOR and “Members Only” by Drake. This is Drake’s first release amid his ongoing battle against rapper Kendrick Lamar, which could be considered his response to being dissed on national television at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. If it is, then Lamar definitely takes the win on this one.
The album opens with “CN TOWER,” which offers a balanced blend of vocals from both Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR layered onto a relaxed beat made up of deep bass and catchy percussion. Despite a promising start, the album quickly goes downhill. With a listening time of 73 minutes from 21 tracks and limited featured artists, Drake’s performance as the album progresses is nothing short of whiny and hard to listen to. His singing has little to no dynamics, making it seem like he’s going through the motions to placate his preexisting fan base rather than putting in the effort to be innovative.
A prime example of this is in the track “SPIDER-MAN SUPERMAN,” where Drake personifies himself as a superhero and sings about girls begging him to save them. Regardless of whether this scene exists anywhere beyond Drake’s imagination, the anecdote embarrassingly attempts to boost Drake’s ego to listeners. Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR sound like they are about to fall asleep on this track, and to make matters worse, heavy-handed autotune smothers any residual authenticity, making Drake’s vocals robotic and lifeless.
The album falls into the same trap that Drake’s previous works have — lazy, uninspired lyricism that is more befitting of a text from a desperate boyfriend or a rookie Instagram user’s caption than meaningful songwriting. The duo goes on and on about lust, heartbreak and late-night texts, leaning into done-to-death tropes instead of pushing creative boundaries. Drake’s corny one-liners on track “CELIBACY” make listeners question whether lines like “Life is good between your thighs” are written by a love-struck 12-year-old or a renowned rapper pushing 40 years old.
Besides the tacky lyricism, “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” suffers from other blatant shortcomings. For one, the imbalance between Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR on the album is concerning, and makes listeners forget it’s a collaborative album. PARTYNEXTDOOR barely has a presence, delivering forgettable verses and being sidelined to repeating the inane adlib of “Her crotch” on “SOMEBODY LOVES ME.” Furthermore, Drake’s autotuned, whiney R&B singing and hushed raps don’t mesh well, most noticeably on track “GIMME A HUG.” The verses about being immersed in wild Toronto nightlife and waiting in strip clubs for women are trashy and distasteful.
Drake takes some hit-or-miss risks on the album. Sometimes his eccentricism shines, like in the track “NOKIA,” where he can make a beat out of the words “Who’s calling my phone?” to create a fairly catchy, upbeat song. But other times, his creative attempts fail horrendously, such as in the track “MEET YOUR PADRE,” a song that has been notoriously clowned on social media for the lyric “I want to meet your madre, pay my respects to your padre, mi amor,” where he awkwardly attempts to sing in Spanish, making the song sound more like a gimmick than an attempt at diverse music.
The saving grace of “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” is the harmonic production that snaps listeners out of boredom from listening to drawn-out verses. Particularly, the recurring beat switches on the project — such as on “MOTH BALLS” and “GIMME A HUG” — have seamless transitions from orchestral, melodic instrumentals into rhapsodic and syncopated tempos. It’s also commendable how the Toronto rapper has introduced his large fanbase to underground artists like Yebba and Pimmie. Yebba had her first big break on the 2021 album “CLB,” and it’s refreshing to see her growth as an indie artist on the project. Likewise, this is Pimmie’s first feature on a major album. While it may be weak, being featured on a Drake album is a solid accomplishment to put on her resume.
While Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR may claim “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” is romantic and enthusiastic of the bachelor life they entertain, it reeks of desperation and toxic masculinity. The incessant suave, woman-crazy attitude Drake tries to prove he has feels tasteless coming from someone who’s approaching 40. It’s not to say that the Toronto rapper needs to prove himself with introspective and critical lyricism, but the anguished and thirsty attitude sets his work beneath the standard he’s created from past albums “Take Care” and “Nothing Was The Same.” For Drake fans who held out hope this Valentine’s Day and were met with unforeseen crudeness, a short-term breakup with the Toronto artist’s discography may be an ideal solution.
RATING: 2/5
