Drake and 21 Savage, Their Loss.
By Timmy Keil
The Rap duo Drake and 21 Savage have returned again to follow up their Billboard top 25 single with one of the most anticipated albums of the last month. Through high-value production and undeniably rhythmical beats, the duo proves that careful consideration has been utterly thrown out as they roll out the red carpet for their new album “Her Loss”.
Features are a common and absolutely expected attribute to almost all rap albums, with high monetary values for prestigious verses. Yet, the new album “Her Loss” from Drake and 21 Savage has been reported to have been produced solely based on the respect these two have for each other.
21’s manager reported in an article that “it’s ‘rare’ for 21 Savage to be in the studio with other rappers these days.” Further confirming the reality that these two mega stars pursued this project for the love of the game.
Yet, not even the absence of high-value features could save this album from sounding like the total void of lyrical expression that it is. For what it’s worth, the collaboration serves for a bouncing good time at any party or club with beats that make it impossible for the listener to not get up and move. However, this is not an album for the listener to withdraw any deeper meaning or question when it comes to the content of the lyrics.
Photo of Drake performing taken from depositimages
The opening track “Rich Flex” is simultaneously groovy and laughable as it takes the listener through a journey only fit for Drake and 21 to lead. The harsh switch from pounding drums and repeating melody lines to a Drake-conducted ballad at the 1:40 mark leaves a reaction that the listener can only describe through hysterics as they are serenaded by the words “all you h**s”. This track is packed with three distinct switches ranging from soft R&B to hard trap beats with driving 808s. Through the contextual changes within the track, the tone of both rappers remains consistently serious, making the golden moment of Drake’s ballad even more comical.
This album is littered with lyrical catastrophes at least disguised under interesting and melodic auto-tune. At the album’s halfway point we reach potentially the most interesting track as well as the longest at a whopping six minutes 39 seconds. The artists finally introduce new words into the album with Drake inevitably tainting the track with the same repeated misogyny that rings throughout the project. The beat of this song is highly melodic and melancholic which plays into the story of their longing for a girl that wants to settle for a less famous and more obscure partner. Money can’t buy everything… obviously.
Aside from Drake and 21 Savage, the album’s only other track credited feature, Travis Scott, appears with a title too lewd to state. The recurrence of lackluster substance returns more triumphant than ever with Scott taking the farthest back seat, only coming in a little over the track’s halfway mark. Despite the consistently overused topic of money, Scott thankfully brings a heightened vocabulary to the void of lyrical content that is so lazily cast among every song on the project. The production of the track starts out as a laid-back R&B approach later stepping up the momentum when Scott’s verses take the reigns. The song states early in the verse “more money, more problems” which they perfectly demonstrate in this track.
Overall, Her Loss is an album to put on when the mood is right to get up and dance, that’s it.
I rate this album a 5/10