Album Review: Drake and Future Trade Verses; Release Collaborative Mixtape "What a Time To Be Alive"
/"What A Time To Be Alive" album cover (Cash Money Records/ Epic Records).
Drake and Future’s long-rumored mixtape, What a Time To Be Alive, dropped yesterday exclusively on iTune and Apple Music. The mixtape has eleven songs in total, and Drake and Future are the only artists to rap; there are no features. The tone of the mix tape is very mellow and low key in comparison to some of Drake’s other angry lyrics and intense vibes of past albums. Funky electronic beats fill out many of the songs including “Digital Dash” and “Big Rings.” “Digital Dash” in particular contains high-pitched background sound that creates a unique track on the mixtape.
“Big Rings” is something Drake’s audience, in particular, is more used to hearing as he brags about his rap star status and his entourage, “Cause I got a really big team, and they need some really big rings, and they need some really nice things, better be comin’ with no strings.” Even in the short introduction, Drake creates the persona his fans look for within self-confident lyrics. He states, “Yeah, I know we just signed a deal, but I need my advance on the next one, too. They know Imma be around…” Even though the tone of the Drake and Future’s mixtape is more relaxed with techno-like backbeats than If You’re Reading this It’s Too Late, Drake still brings out his personality within songs like “Big Rings.”
“Plastic Bag” is a song from What a Time To Be Alive that is reminiscent of Usher’s recent “I Don’t Mind” as it discusses the job choice of a stripper. “Plastic Bag” includes a fair amount of both Drake and Future. Future raps in the second half, “Magic City on a Monday. We worship this like a Sunday… Get a plastic bag, go ahead and pick up all the cash. You danced all night, girl, you deserved it.” Though the lyrics certainly carry the stereotypical macho rap persona as does Usher’s song, it also encourages the woman’s job choice as a financial means instead of solely degrading it.
“Digital Dash” is arguably the most noteworthy song off of the mix tape. This is because of two reasons: as previously mentioned, the high-pitched backbeats are extremely unique; in addition, both Future and Drake have extremely lengthy rap verses that demonstrate both their talents as artists. This is also the first song on the mix tape, so it sets the tone for the other ten to come.
Future certainly holds his own in the artistic presence of a force as formidable as Drake throughout What a Time To Be Alive. In an exciting articulation of both rappers’ successes, Future tells the listeners in “Scholarship,” “I came out the trenches, I really made it, I come out the gutter, I really made it;” Drake adds in with Future on the hook, “I’m ballin’ outta control.” The feat of this mixtape is extremely impressive closely following Drake’s recent platinum selling album release in February and Future’s album release in July. Do Drake & Future have a platinum selling project on their hands, a second in less than a year for Drizzy? What a time to be alive for these two rap moguls.
Purchase What a Time To Be Alive on iTunes here.