Seen from a two-year-distance, the biggest achievement in 808s & Heartbreak was not the then-much-discussed extreme use of auto-tune. It was instead the launch of a new concept in the hip-hop world where we had dark ballads and introspective lyrics, over instrumentals that seemed like skeletons of post-digital songs. The born of emo-rap, anyone?
Fast-forward to 2010 and the first mainstream descendent of that polarizing album comes from the newest superstar in the game, the dude-next-door whom anyone can identity with. So yeah, Drake is now being acclaimed as hip-hop's saviour, and if that shows how unfair the world was to Kanye's 2008 controversial masterpiece, the truth is that, when hearing Thank Me Later, one can only think that justice is finally being done.
A direct continuation of last year's excellent So Far Gone, Drake's debut full-length further explores the qualities first revealed in that mixtape, and even accentuates them, in a very diverse collection of songs that is, nevertheless, surprisingly consistent. From his incredible ability to smoothly flow between rapping and singing, to the innumerous hooks and involving details that each song incorporates, you have it all, creating an intense and futuristic sound that, paradoxically, sounds like an instant classic.
And back again to that 808s & Hearbreak comparison: if Kanye's album seemed like a work-in-progress from a mind that is constantly flowing into different directions, Thank Me Later sounds like a definitive statement from someone pretty sure about where he's heading: with his debut album, Drake has already created a landmark (9/10)
Drake - Find Your Love (video)
www.myspace.com/thisisdrake
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