by Sheelan Mohammed
Picture this: It’s a typical day, the sun is out searching for a purchase, except it doesn’t have to because it can feed off of Drake’s blazing new EP “Scary Hours” for free, now streaming on Spotify.
Drake released his two-tracked mini album on Jan. 19, instantly breaking the single-day streaming record for Apple Music and Spotify. This comes as no surprise, however, because some consider Drake to be a “culture vulture,” and claim he has a “ghost writer,” he has stayed significantly successful since he dropped his first mixtape “So Far Gone.”
The first track off the EP, “God’s Plan,” features Drake’s well-known singing and rapping collaboration. The lyrics are catchy and commemorative of Drake’s many successes, but also his many feuds throughout his career, such as the infamous beef he had with Meek Mill in 2015 when Mill let slip the alleged “ghost writer” tale.
In 2012, Drake broke a Billboard record for the most No. 1 singles on the rap charts. In 2015, he became Spotify’s most streamed artist. It’s clear that Drake’s a rap sensation, the statistics point to it. But he isn’t an artist if he doesn’t include his successes and his backlash in his art. And that’s exactly what he does in “God’s Plan.”
His second single off the EP is titled “Diplomatic Immunity.” This track is a little less fun loving and smoother lyrically and instrumentally. It’s nostalgic of Drake’s ‘Old School’ style, and one could even mistake it for being a track off of his first mixtape.
Drake has dropped his fair share of diss tracks, from “Back to Back” and “Charged Up,” but in “Diplomatic Immunity” he puts the backlashers in their places with a couple celestial lines.
“Opinions over statistics, of course / Gassed off journalistic / Come at me and all you’ll get is the ballistic report,” Drake said.
Drake is warning the journalists that if they dare drag his name through the mud (or in this sense, throw figurative shots at him), he will throw literal shots at them, hence the ‘ballistic report.’
This isn’t to be taken the wrong way, however, like most things do when it has to do with Aubrey “Drake” Graham. Drake is not all about focusing his attention and music on the ‘haters.’ In fact, most of his well-known songs are about love, passion, growing up in the business and him being in his feelings.
Aubrey Drake is an ingenious lyricist, and “Scary Hours” is proof of this. This EP has hit every box on the checklist: well-written, instrumentally masterful, catchy, well-meaning. The fact of the matter is Drake makes music everyone can listen to and should listen to. He’s what we call a musical genius.
So the next time you’re walking in the sun (not at the moment though, be sure to bundle up!), think to yourself, can you do without Vitamin D(rake)? No, you cannot.
Drake seemed to know what he was doing when he dropped this EP with no caution, hint or promotion, and has already become critically-acclaimed.
Well planned, 6 God.