Review: Drake x If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late

We know this was just a “throw away” mixtape of all the tracks that didn’t make it to Views from the 6. But I think it’s worthy of a review to compare later for the actual album. Hoping we can expect something better than this, but the fact that this is just the “throw-aways” makes the anticipation even better.

1. Legend (Producer: PARTYNEXTDOOR)

Love the “So Anxious” sample PND uses on this track combined with the bed squeaks. Nice touch. Drake rhymes in a catchy sing-songy way. “Oh my God, Oh my God, If I die Imma legend” consequently is the part that’s hard to get rid of. It stays in your head all damn day.  I like this joint.

Rating: 7

Stand Out Verse: When I pull up on a nigga / Tell that nigga back back / I’m too good with these words / Watch a nigga backtrack / If I die, all I know is I’m a mother fucking legend / It’s too late for my city / I’m the youngest nigga rapping

2. Energy (Producer: Boi-1da Co-Producer OB O’Brien)

I like that he addresses all the hate he gets in the industry. Some of these artists act like they’re not mad at Drake, but they really are. It makes you wonder: is the envy really bringing on the hate? Nice beat and reminds me of “0-100”.

Rating: 8

Stand Out Verse: I got money in the courts so all my niggas are free / Bout to call your ass a Uber, I got somewhere to be / I hear fairy tales ‘bout how they gon’ run up on me / Well run up when you see me then and we gon’ see

3. 10 Bands (Producer: Boi-1da; Co-Producer: Sevn Thomas)

Drake is showing no remorse on this track. This could possibly be the club track of the album. It’s real “Started from the Bottom”-esque. We’ve heard this before but it definitely gets me turnt.

Rating: 7.5

Stand Out Verse: I treat V Live like it’s ‘07 in Magic City / Man I told my city I’d be gone till / November, then November came / Then I came, right back on my worst behav- / 6 God put both hands together that’s amazing grace / 6 God selfish with the love, I need all the praise

4. Know Yourself (Producer: Boi-1da; Co-Producers: Vinylz & Syk Sense)

The beat on this one is wonderful. Beautiful production. I like bass heavy stuff – thank you. This is one of those songs if you don’t know the first verse you’re a loser. You have to at least sing-a-long to: “Running through the 6 with my woes…”while more than likely putting the city you’re from in place of 6. I know I have: “Running through the H with my woes”. This has been a fan favorite of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. He’s really laying it all out here.

Rating: 9

Stand Out Verse: Don’t fuck with them niggas, they too irrational / This is that nasty flow / Top boy in this shit, I’m so international / Reps up in here got P Reign and Chubby and TJ and Winnie / Yeah, and you know how that shit go

5. No Tellin’ (Producer: Boi-1da; Co-Producer: Frank Dukes)

This song has an old soul. “Envelopes coming in the mail, letter opener, I’m hoping for a check again – ain’t no tellin”. This songs okay. I like the chorus more than I like him rapping on it. I still fuck with the song heavy, but I don’t know if it’s the production or the song itself. Sometimes Drake sounds like he’s tired of rapping at the end of his song but it’s a good flow and works with this song.

Rating: 6

Stand Out Verse: Please don’t speak to me like I’m that Drake from four years ago / I’m at a higher place / Thinkin’ they lions and tigers and bears, I go huntin’ / Put heads on my fire place / oh my

6. Madonna (Producer: 40)

This sounds very Badu-inspired. It comes in very softly with Drake coming in poetically on the beat. Again, the Ginuwine sample is a nice touch. 40 does a good job making it blend into the song without over powering it. Sauced up? Sauce Twinz reference? If so – Drake you so real for that. Wouldn’t expect anything less. The story this song tells is dope too. It’s like an invitation into a conversation.

Rating: 7

Stand Out Verse: Just get in the car and let’s touch the road / Don’t make other plans / Say you get up early / You work for the man / Well he’ll understand / Pull up I’m pulling up on you in ten / Already on ten / Big as Madonna I’ll say it again

7. 6 God (Producers: Boi-1da & Syk Sense)

Very bass heavy. There’s a lot of tension on this track and you can tell Drake means every word. Lyrically I think this song is solid. It’s one of those tracks where his rhymes stands out along with the production. One of my favorites on this project.

Rating: 9

Stand Out Verse: Nobody really likes us except for us / All I ever needed was the squad so that’s what’s up / my sound got the whole city a way right now / So I don’t give a fuck about what anybody sayin’ right now

8. Star67 (Producers: Vinylz, Most High & Amir Obe)

Drake comes in on this track taking shots at his label and Birdman. *67 is what you’d use to block your number back in the day when people still had home phones, so the topic is very ironic. The transition to the other half of the song sounds like two different songs. I’m not sure if that was on purpose or not. But it tells two different stories. This song has a lot of potential and doesn’t seem complete. I really enjoy the end of the song though.

Rating: 6.5

Stand Out Verse: My nigga Biz said “the first mil gonna change you” / Change for the better, hit it then dead her / Thats my vendetta, keep this shit together / God damn we ain’t even got a scam / Cocaine Coupe, we ain’t even gotta scale

9. Preach f. PARTYNEXTDOOR (Producer: PARTYNEXTDOOR)

This is basically and PND song featuring Drake. His opening line is “Still in Miami…” and does give off a very Miami night life vibe. I could do without this one however catchy chorus, I’ll be saying “young nigga preach” a lot this year.

Rating: 5.5

Stand Out Verse: Man you can’t afford me / Doing is one thing, doing it right is a whole different story / Niggas is all in their feelings these days, all in their feelings these days / But hearing the scripture with that many sixes you should be afraid

10. Wednesday Night Interlude f. PARTYNEXTDOOR (Producer: PARTYNEXTDOOR)

Now I like PND but only when I want to listen to PND. Again, a PND song featuring Drake. Reminds me of “Bria’s Interlude” off of So Far Gone but “Bria’s Interlude” wins. At least it’s not one of those interludes that you wish was an actual song. They give you the full shebang right here. I usually skip this one.

Rating: 4

Stand Out Verse: None

11. Used To f. Lil Wayne (Producer: Wondagurl)

So much bass! Lyrically, this is a great track. Drake snaps on this and seems to address Kendrick Lamar and P. Diddy all in one beating. Lil’ Wayne isn’t half as bad either but it does get boring at the end…like is this nigga Wayne still rappin’? It’s a nice treat when Drake comes back in on the hook. The change in beat towards the end is serves as a nice cool down from a song that went in so hard.

Rating: 6.5

Stand Out Verse: Way more gully gully than buddy buddy / Never needed your acceptance, never needed nothin’ / You don’t understand, I’m the only one to hear from / You don’t understand that it’s me or nothin’ / Yeah, I’m fuckin’ glowin’ up

12. 6 Man (Producer: 40 Co-Producer: Dax-z)

The Lou Will reference is hilarious but it eerily mirror’s Drakes love life. This song was too short but leaving off with the Roots – Erykah Badu, “Got Me” inspired verse was a nice touch. 40 is really good at blending musical sounds and transitions to make sense with the song. When I imagine a song with separate beats, this is how I imagine it would sound. Great production and crazy flow.

Rating: 9

Stand Out Verse: Young but I’m gettin’ every single motherfuckin’ thing / I’m old, you gotta know / I’m here to fuck with niggas souls, my heart is cold / It’s prolly cause I’m from the snow, with all my woes / I know they wanna see me go, I’m on a roll

13. Now and Forever (Producer: Eric Dingus & Jimmy Prime)

This song is very So Far Gone meets Take Care refined. I guess “Now and Forever” fits. He gives us a nursery rhyme cadence throughout the song. Cryptically, the song tells the story of a love misunderstood and is like he’s speaking through the song. Don’t Drake and drive with this one.

Rating: 8

Stand Out Verse: I gotta go out and get, want you know what I did / Want you to know how it went / That’s why I keep telling you over and over again / Just let me go / Just let me go, let bring it home to you

14. Company f. Travi$ Scott (Producers: TM88, Wondagurl & Travi$ Scott)

Drake takes it back to Houston with this one and you know what happens in Houston. He goes back and forth between his love of strippers and the one who he should really be with. Travi$ does a nice job on this as well and I seem to really the darkness of this song.

Rating: 7.5

Stand Out Track: She walk right up to her ex, look him dead in the face / And say, “You ain’t got the juice like that / You ain’t got the juice like that / That’s cold, ice cold, girl you ain’t have to do him like that / Why you had to do him like that?

15. You & the 6 (Producer: Boi-1da Co-Producers: 40 & Illmind)

This is one of those songs that’s just really nice to listen to with lots of soul. It’s like a letter he wrote to his mom that lays out his love and frustrations in their relationship. It is an endearing song that discusses how he was raised and even touches on their relationship with his Dad.

Rating: 9

Stand Out Verse: Do you remember back to Weston Road, Scarlett Road? / Hangin’ with Aaron Bell and Reny shit could’ve gone south for me he looked out for me ma /He never let me do drugs / He let me shoot a gun one summer but out there everyone does / He made me listen to his music, old music, soul music / Shit that can only be created if you go through it

16. Jungle (Producer: 40)

This song is cool. I’m not rushing to play this song when I start playing this album. It’s a cool love song though – or whatever it’s supposed to be. The story this song tells is very familiar which makes it easy to listen to. Or maybe if you don’t want to go there emotionally at the moment, you know to skip this song because it will take you there.

Rating: 6

Stand Out Verse: She said you’re my everything / I love you through everything / I done did everything to her / She forgave me for everything, this a forever thing / Hate that I treated like it’s a whatever thing / Trust me girl, this shit is everything to me

17. 6PM In New York (Producers: Boi-1da & Frank Dukes Co-Producers: Bobby White & Sevn Thomas)

Drake is just playing on this track. It’s a streaming of consciousness that’s usually present towards the end of Drake mixtapes. It’s one of the tracks you can just let play in the background while you’re vacuuming your room. If Drake had warm-up sessions before he records a song, I’d imagine the “certain time, in a certain city” series would be it. He does take those shots at Tyga in this song though.

Rating: 9

Stand Out Verse: And on top of that it’s getting harder to eat / Rappers downgrading houses / Putting cars on the lease / To think labels said they had a problem marketing me / And now it’s everybody else that’s getting hard to believe / Oh you gotta love it

Overall, this was a nice gift from Drake to the fans waiting for Views from the 6. It’s enough new material to hold us over until then. If this is any indication of what Views from the 6 will sound like, it will be just as much of a hit as this mixtape-sold-as-an-album has been. Drake and If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late have completely taken over the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Chart that only holds about 50 slots. Drake’s album, as well as the many features he’s on, have taken over 42% of the chart. Basically his whole mixtape-album is charting, which is something that the industry has never seen. This was done off the fact that it is “Drake” and his consistency to make good music. Hopefully other rappers will take heed and start to make quality music as well. Now you don’t need a radio hit to chart thanks to Billboard’s new rules – thanks to Jay Z.

Overall Rating: 7.3

Stand Out Track: Definitely “Energy”.

Stand Out Production: “Jungle” just sounds so beautiful and heartfelt. It takes a lot to make a song sound like it has a life of it’s own and 40 takes you there on “Jungle”.

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Catrise J

Catrise J is the owner of Vault of 1520 and Content Creator for Dirty Glove Bastard (DGB). Catrise is a self described “free-spirit” and always shares what’s on her mind. She enjoys Hip Hop, nature, reading, 420 and 90’s R&B. Her idols include Angie Martinez, Tupac, Oprah, and Warren Buffet. You can connect with Catrise on social media.