Take Care, Check it out.

The Weeknd is my favorite new artist this year. Everything that this guy touches shines so bright. With a stellar freshman debut mix-tape (House of Balloons) and a good follow-up in the Thursday mix-tape, The Weeknd started to really take form and run. When I caught wind that The Weeknd was going to work with Drake I became excited, not because of Drake. I don't even really like this guy. However, the thought of new Weeknd material seemed intriguing. I knew it was a no-brainer. Drake & The Weeknd have had this teaser of a collaboration since Weeknd popped. It has been written about in various articles over at pitchfork.

So the collaborative track Crew Love is really what brought me to this album. Not for Drake. To hear how the Weeknd worked with this guy. I can't really seem to mesh with Drake's past work, it all seems too transparent. However, I listened to this album all of the way through. I wouldn't say that I loved this album, but I did enjoy a few tracks. First and foremost Crew Love, which I explained above. His track with fellow Young Money-er Nicki Minaj, titled Make Me Proud. Is a great stand out from the rest of what sounded like a passable attempt at an R-Kelly album. (circa. Trapped in the Closet). That is just due to my love for Minaj. I was mostly disappointed with the wasted collaboration of Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, and Drizzy, The Real Her. Looking at the track listing is appears as if this would be the club song, but it just turned out to be a slow B-Side. Drake makes up for that though with a harsher track featuring Weezy again, HYFR (Hell Yeah Fuckin' Right). That takes us to the end of the album...

Overall this mainstream hip-hop runoff release is pretty decent. With a steady line-up of guests and perfectly produced beats, Drake has picked up a few points. There is still a vast room for improvement. Drake, your still closer to Jimmy Brooks than Kanye West. There is a link to the album on Spotify at the bottom of this post. I am also posting the song Crew Love.

Check it out



S!D