In the throes of an extremely successful year for Drake, “What a Time to Be Alive” seems like only a semi-colon, leaving the possibility of much more. Drake has already catapulted to the upper-echelon of the music industry. This summer, he turned away from Tidal and joined Apple Music, which now has proved to be a pivotal moment for his career.
Future is well on his way to the front lines of the rap world. His album “DS2” fell into a no. 1 position on the Billboard 200 after it’s release this July. Along with this, Future released two mix tapes this year, “Beast Mode” and “56 Nights.” His musical fecundity and success has brought plenty of attention to the Atlanta-based rapper.
For both artists, “What a Time to be Alive” is a demonstration of dominance, stocked with references to monetary achievement and ascent in the hip-hop world. The album’s release was a success for both artists, as Apple Music exclusively carried the album for the first five days of its release, sending a wave of both rappers’ fans to Apple’s newest brainchild for downloads. The album shot to the top of the Billboard 200.
A very quick listen at 40 minutes long, the 11-track collaboration satisfies what both rappers’ fans have been waiting for, so it’s no puzzle why the album is still the center of hype.
For Drake, “What a Time” is a display of achievement and attitude, as exemplified by his references to Meek Mill’s past accusations that he uses ghostwriters. In the ending track, “30 for 30 Freestyle” Drake directly addresses this through the lyrics, “We ain’t in it, we just ghost ride. The pen is working if you niggas need some ghost lines. I thought you wanted yours like I want mine. I guess you just making moves on your own time.”
The song, Drake’s only solo track on the album, sounds less like freestyle and more like a poem or monologue.
As for Future’s solo song “Jersey,” the entirety is all Future: druggy and undeniably more street-oriented than a majority of the other songs on the album. “Jersey,” though not a banger is, in Future’s own right, one of the standout tracks of the album.
“What a Time” almost seems like the product of two parts that are not soluble, but interact and seem to mix when shaken or stirred, only later to separate once again. Perhaps this is because the entire album was recorded in less than a week at Future’s home base. Another reason could possibly be that Drake and Future’s lyrical deliveries are both undeniably different. At the core, “What a Time” could almost be described as a Future album with shades of Drake. However, throughout the album, a feel of impending paranoia and general creepiness comes through in the music- a style reminiscent of both artists’ past work.
Tracks like “Digital Dash,” “Big Rings,” “Diamonds Dancing,” “Scholarships,” and “I’m the Plug” carry the album. Though, “I’m the Plug” and “Big Rings” can become uninteresting after time, due to repetition of simple lines with little meaning such as, “Really I’m the plug,” and the hook of “Big Rings” in which Drake boisterously raps, “Cause I got a really big team. And they need some really big rings. They need some really nice things. Better be comin’ with no strings.”
What one might assume to be a piece highlighting the plight of self-consciousness, “Plastic Bag” is actually an imploration for a dancer to collect cash from her performance off the floor. “Grab a plastic bag. Go ahead and pick up all the cash. Girl you deserve it,” sing-raps Drake over a soft, tender beat. One would think that someone on his “really big team” with their “really big rings” would at least give her something better than a plastic bag to pick up all the cash with if she REALLY deserved it.
“Digital Dash” is the first song on the album and probably most cohesive work of the two rappers. The production method for the song is very effective in that Drake and Future’s recordings are layered, but one or the other occasionally surfaces in a sort of song-length cyclone of the two rapper’s voices. “Digital Dash” is also an excellent song to listen to while aggressively searching for a commuter parking spot on campus.
“What a Time to be Alive” has proved to be a definite success for Drake and Future, in spite of some differences in consistency, the album is worth a listen. Several songs from “What a Time” will undeniably remain in both artists’ canons, while others will most likely drift away into the cloudy and normally unvisited corners in both of their repertoires.
