Album Review: Drake “VIEWS”

After ten months of anticipation, Drake unleashed his fourth album “Views”, originally entitled “Views From the 6”. Thursday night’s release invigorated fans worldwide with 20 songs that demonstrated his stylistic range with lively anthems, Caribbean beats, and vulnerable ballads. The name of the album, and its tone, was greatly inspired by the city that raised the accomplished MC, Toronto.

Views has its share of collaborations with talented artists such as Rihanna and Future lending their voices and adding to the electric hype. To our delight Rihanna co-wrote and sang on the upbeat, infectious track “Too Good”. Borrowing from the Caribbean beauty, “One Dance” is a undeniably catchy dancehall inspired track ft. WizKid and Kyla. Another one of my favorite appearances on the album was that of R&B icon Mary J. Blige within “Weston Road Flows”, a direct homage to Drakes beloved hometown. There are plenty of surprises as even more collaborations are sprinkled throughout the album.

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Drake doesn’t let us down with the imagery within Views either. The photos display a stoic, visually appealing, almost Vogue like impression. The snowy views, city heights, and highlights of his estate take you on a journey into what was and is. Drake explains that the album was highly influenced by his origins in Toronto stating, “you start to value your days more when seven months of them are spent in ice cold…it creates a different type of atmosphere, a different sound in the music, a different type of person even.” The album photo’s certainly provides another layer of atmosphere to Views and help to explain his inspiration.

Drake’s awesome week comes to a fantastic close, as he recently announced his participation in the seventh annual OVO Fest in his hometown of Toronto. The event is scheduled for July 29th through August 1st. In between his involvement with OVO Fest, he will also partner with Future for the Summer Sixteen Tour, kicked off here in the States. This dynamic duo will be beginning the tour in Austin, TX July 20th, crisscrossing North America until it wraps up in Vancouver on Sept. 17th. It sounds like Drake has an exciting few months planned and I can’t wait to see and hear all about it.

Written By: April Fusilier