As it did so, it broke a number of streaming records – something Drake is no stranger to. Released on March 18, 2017, More Life proved a hit with both the critics and the public, earning a raft of positive reviews and debuting at No.1 on the US Billboard 200. If there was a sense that Drake’s recent works had started to dwell on negativity (tentatively asserted by the inclusion of a spoken admonishment from his mother at the coda of “Can’t Have Everything”) then More Life – as its title suggests – presents an open-hearted, often sunshine-filled corrective. Even more successful is “Passionfruit.” An ingenious interpolation of house and dancehall featuring a brilliantly laidback vocal from Drake, it proved another sizable hit when released as a single. There are classic excursions into pop, too: Blem harnesses some of the dancehall magic that had previously made “One Dance” such a success. Two songs take a detour into different African styles, with British R&B vocalist Jorja Smith providing the vocals for the Black Coffee-produced South African house anthem “Get It Together.” “Madiba Riddim,” meanwhile, presents a shimmering take on Afrobeats.Įlsewhere, Sampha provides a typically emotive vocal performance on the moody soul of “4422” “Free Smoke,” “Fake Love,” “Gyalchester” and “Portland” provide shimmering examples of trap and “Nothings Into Somethings,” “Teenage Fever” and the Kanye West-assisted “Glow” provide classic examples of the type of soulful, woozy hip-hop that have long made Drake albums such essential concerns.
His much-documented fascination with the London grime scene bears fruit with two guest turns from Peckham rapper Giggs (the street-tough head-nodders “No Long Talk” and “KMT”) while a whole track is given over to Giggs’ north London counterpart Skepta (the West Coast-meets-grime mashup of “Skepta Interlude”). At 22 tracks and over an hour and a half in length, More Life is both Drake’s most expansive and sonically diverse work.