Grade: C+
I guess the moral of the story here's to never divest in DrakeCoin. There’s always bangers and surprises around the corner, even after dropping two complete duds with Certified Lover Boy and Honestly, Nevermind. With his newest collaborative effort with 21 Savage called Her Loss, he actually sounds like he’s putting in effort. 21’s cold blooded bars make Drake hungry and competitive as a result and even after multiple listens, it’s tough to say who outperformed who. Over straightforward but ever shifting production from Metro Boomin, Noah “40”, F1thy and many others, the two men drop some of their best material in years.
The opening stretch from “Rich Flex” to “Privileged Rappers” really gets the momentum going with a ton of rewind-worthy lines, killer choruses and trunk-knocking beats. Here’s just a few of my favorite lines from those cuts:
“Don't call me on Christmas Eve, b****, call your daddy”
“I blow a half a million on you h***, I'm a feminist”
The record is imperfect with several obvious duds, including “Hours In Silence” and “Jumbotron Shit Poppin”, but that’s made up for with the obvious hits. From the opening moments, the Daft Punk-sampling “Circo Loco” and middle-class dissing “Broke Boys” draw you in with their unique beatwork. The beat switches hit at the right times and Drake is typically there to say something memorable as it happens. Drake is able to tick off his boxes like the soul-sampling metaphor fest (“Middle of the Ocean”), the Travis Scott track (“Pussy & Millions”) and the syrupy banger (“Spin Bout U”) without it feeling like he’s going through the motions. Even while being carbon copied Kirby style, 21 Savage holds his own with minimal awkwardness (“3AM on Glenwood” is deeply goofy, though). Drake told him “do yo thang 21” and he definitely did.
It’s a welcome comeback for Drake, another W for Savage and the biggest winners are the producers, in my opinion. The ending sucks and Her Loss has its obvious limitations, but I’m still generally surprised by how good this was.
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