[ot-caption title=”Drake on his 2016 Summer Sixteen Tour. (via, Charito Yap, Flickr)”]

This past week, Drake overtook the radios with his new musical project, More Life. The “playlist,” as Drake calls it, was released on March 18, 2017. Unlike most artists who struggle to make popular music each year, Drake has continued to stay relevant with two popular albums in the past two years. Views came out on April 29th, 2016 and What a Time To Be Alive came out on September 20th, 2015. With Views, Drake scored his biggest hits to date that included “Hotline Bling” and “One Dance.” [spacer height=”20px”]

Drake’s new playlist features a five-minute jam called “Passionfruit,” which serves as an early indicator that More Life would feel more tuneful than Views. More Life has a more sonic attraction than Drake’s previous album and is more along the lines of Nothing Was The Same.[spacer height=”20px”]

“I think ‘Passionfruit’ is an iconic song as it ties in his life, yet a life people can relate to,” junior Shaynah Boulay said. “I like the play on words as the title is ‘Passionfruit,’ but he is talking about how hard it is to keep the passion going in long distance and other circumstances that can restrict passion. Most people might think that since Drake is Drake he might not have these issues, but it is refreshing to see that he does have these issues and how he expresses those.”[spacer height=”20px”]

Some people might wonder why Drake has chosen to call his latest release a “playlist,” as Drake is the primary artist on most of the songs. More Life is a less-weighted project, as its release date was only released one day in advance. Giving his newest release a different categorical name shows that each song has its own individual flavor.[spacer height=”20px”]

“All of his songs are extremely different. Some songs are jazzy, while others are more under the rap genre,” freshman Libby Torregrossa said. “The songs are extremely diverse, and I would say it is considered more of a playlist because most albums try to fit their songs into one genre, yet in More Life there are so many different genres.”[spacer height=”20px”]

The focus on this playlist is really about bringing together a very diverse set of sounds from around the world into a playlist to deliver tasteful vibes for his fans’ enjoyment.[spacer height=”20px”]

“One of the songs touches on the Jamaican culture and the Haitian culture and the dialects that they use,” sophomore Ashleigh Clark said. “I think it is cool because he is including everyone into his music and not just sticking into one type or sound, and he is branching out from the normal rap genre.”[spacer height=”20px”]

With 22 songs and an 81-minute runtime, More Life is just as extensive as Views, so it will most likely take a while for people to sort through all of the songs in his playlist. What is already clear is that More Life is already another hit project for Drake. The lyrics throughout the playlist combine the diverse around that we live in today and reveal the struggles of keeping his streak that he started back in 2009. The final verse on More Life’s final song tells his listeners that Drake is planning to take the summer off and will “be back in 2018 to give you the summary.” Until then, enjoy the voluminous playlist. [spacer height=”20px”]

Sources: Billboard.com, NPR.com

Image Source: The Come Up Show, Flickr