Ok. Gestern hat Drake ENDLICH „Views“ veröffentlicht. Und deshalb bin ich seit gestern entrückt von der Welt. Bin in einem Musik und Gefühltaumel. Ein Zustand, in den mich so nur Musik bringen kann. Musik macht komische Sachen mit mir. Es ist als wären alle Schichten, die man sonst so hat, um sich selbst vor der Welt zu verbergen, zu schützen, mit einmal weggerissen.
Und das ist ok. Das ist ein machtvolles, wildes Gefühl. Raw. Und verletzlich zugleich
Ich bin kein Musikkritiker. Aber ich hab ein paar Sachen zu „Views“ zu sagen. Wie immer wird das in Englisch sein. Ich denke und fühle Musik einfach in Englisch (ich hab Probleme selbst das hier in Deutsch zu schreiben, was man deutlich am Satzbau und einigen Worten merkt). Und auch wie immer: Lest nicht weiter, wenn Ihr zarter besaitet seid. Explicit lyrics and free thoughts ahead. Wer jetzt weiterliest, tut das auf eigene Gefahr und darf sich hinterher nicht beschweren.
Menschen unter 18, jetzt ist Sperrstunde, Ihr müsst heim gehen, sorry!
„Bounce that shit like whoa“
Ok, here we go. Drake dropped „Views“ yesterday. Finally. We all waited a long time for it and amidst all the leaking and hacking it was unsure, if we would get the album at all. Especially when Beyoncé dropped her „Lemonade“* a week earlier. But here it is.
And I love it
I have just a few words to say: People, LISTEN TO IT!!! It is much more than an album, much more than music. It is like sitting down with a person, while he tells you about his life, shows you photos of his youth and of places he saw, pictures he painted. While you cry, laugh, hate, curse and love with each other. And I can imagine how tough it was for Drake to make these songs with all the pressure to keep it street from outside, to go pop from the ones who want to squeeze out more money and so on. I feel this is Drake. More Drake himself and not Drake searching for Drake. It is the Drake I know from „So far gone“ and „Thank me later“. The Drake I fell in love with, together with a few million other people (crazy, if you think about that!). Although I am unsure, if this album will sell as good as his other ones, as it won’t be what most people expect from him.
Two things stood out to me about „Views“: The album gets better with every listen. It somehow sneaks up on you. With every time listening, you notice more things, the words get deeper, the beats doper. This always is a sign of class. Bubblegum gets less tasty with chewing. But a good record gets dearer, deeper, closer, better with every listen. It is like getting to know a person. The more you know him/her, the more you can appreciate him/her. Especially noticed this with songs like „Controlla“ and „Faithful“. The other thing I noticed, is the care Drake seems to have put in every song, every arrangement, every beat. This endears the record even more to me. Ok, as said before, the famous three words say it all: I love it.
P.S. In the following days, when I listened to the record more and longer and when my feelings for it aren’t so raw anymore, I will add a few more thoughts and feelings to this piece. I also painted a few pictures while listening to some of the songs (when I could stop singing and dancing long enough to sit still and paint), which you will find beneath the writing.
And the winner is…
Funniest line: „I groupDM my exes“
Best line together with music: „She rode that dick like a soldier“ (I can’t explain why some bars have such a beauty or depth to me. It is like „Blink art for pedestrians“ from Isaiah Rashad, which touches me so deeply – although it may look absolutely regular to everybody else, which I totally understand)
Best line with or without music: Too many to chose one. An example is: „mixing wodka with emotion, tapping in your emotion, Dry cry, cause I’m hopeless“ (funny enough, when you look on the net, this line seems to divide people: For some it is a stand-out bar, for some it is the dumbest shit ever)
My favourite song: Redemption. By faaaaaar. Then come: Grammys, Fire and Desire, Faithful, Controlla But this list will change with more listenings
Song that is like a box fight: „Grammys“
Song to listen to while making love: „Fire and Desire“
Most touching performance: „U with me“ between 3.25″ and 3.49″ has me going crazy, has me like „Halleluja“, makes me wish for so much more of that
I wish for more… Jeremih singing with Drake
*Boys be aware, that woman will knock you out!
Ok, if you must know, I tell you also a few thoughts to „Lemonade.“ The most remarkable thing about that record happens directly in the first song: This records has the saddest words I ever heard
I pray I catch you whispering, I pray you catch me listening
This is of such a bottomless sadness, of such endless lonelines, that tears roll down my face, everytime I listen to it. If you know a bit about the background and reason for that song, I am sure you will know what I mean. These words and the song throw me in deep hopelessness. It is a very strong song.
The lyrics I like the most, are no lyrics at all. It are just two words in the song „Sorry“, but I just love the way they are said. It are the words „Nigga, nah“. They are delieverd strong, there is a line drawn. They show the incrudulence of the expectations that man has on that woman. How much she has already endured and now enough is enough. I love the power of the delivery of these words. For some reason I believe, they are stronger through putting the „nah“ behind the „nigga“. And yes, I write here about words like fuck, fucking, nigger, Sex, pussy and dick when they are used in a song. They are just words in a song, brought to us with a certain meaning in relation to that song and I refuse to let them be any more powerful than any other word in a song. They are there in the song to deliver a meaning, a feeling, a picture. They reflect back to the personality and life of the musician and I catch the ball the musician threw and play with it. If you can’t take that or feel offended, I feel sorry for you, that you have read this and are upset now. But don’t expect me to feel sorry for believing that they are just words. It is the intention with which they are used that makes them more than words sometimes. But you will find none of that here.
Back to the record: All in all I am unsure, if Blake was the right choice as producer. I mean he is great, I just would have wished we’d had seen more of the raw, powerful Beyoncé. More of the promise she showed on the brilliant „Beyoncé“. To me it feels like we hear more Blake than Beoyncé, like she is – unwillingly – surpressed or pressed into a form that isn’t hers or is not the best medium to translate herself to us.
Over all the album has only 2 songs I listen to, which are „Hold up“ and „All night“. Also ok are „Pray you catch me“ and „Sorry“. This makes me sad, I would have loved to love this record much more. Although I love and adore Kendrick Lamar, I fear I think „Freedom“ gives us not much. The music is meaningless and headacheinducing and is taking away from the lyrics. I understand the idea of having free music to a song about freedom, but it is simply too much and the song drowns in that music. I am sad, because I think „Lemonade“ could have been so much more. I still hope the mighty, glorious, strong, raw, sexy, fragile, beautiful and brilliant Beoyncé we saw in the „Drunk in love“ video will break through again in the coming years and we will see Yoncé in all her beauty. Can’t wait for that. Boys be aware, that woman will knock you out!
Wir sind keine Schafe 