From the beginning, Views was a little bit different.
The album, which had been widely known as Views From The 6 from when Drake first told us about it in July 2014, all the way up until last Thursday, was released via Apple Music on Friday. The people have spoken— Views has already sold over 600,000 electronic copies in the first 48 hours post-release (and is rapidly approaching a mili for the first week).
None of this is the least bit surprising considering the star-power the OVO general possesses as of April 2016. The cyber-streets are buzzing in the days after its release, with everyone looking to weigh in on whether or not the LP lived up to its lofty expectations, expectations that Drake hasn’t hesitated to duck. Again, we’ve known about Views for the better part of the last two years; an interesting fact considering Drizzy ascended to “radical album release” status long ago.
The promotion of an album in the traditional sense (announcement 3-6 months in advance, marketing, features, tracklist/cover art release, media blitz, dropping a mixtape to generate buzz a week before, etc.) is an archaic exercise for the game’s elite, although it’s still highly effective when executed to perfection. Artists of a certain preeminence feel the need to get creative when dropping albums (see Beyoncé’s Lemonade). Drake has done the surprise album before, twice actually. But the über-methodical approach he’s taken with Views will likely work against him as this piece is ruled upon in the court of public opinion, much like the elite college athlete who watches his draft stock plummet after returning to school for an unnecessary encore.
Many publications and websites (this one included) has criticized Drake for waffling on his rapper/singer responsibilities on a given album, even in spite of this range making him the completely unique performer that he is. From all initial indications, this once again appears to be a common criticism of Views. But is that the right way to even judge an Aubrey album?
Aren’t we the misguided ones if we’re expecting a full-on rap album from the man at this point? He’s been on the scene for seven years now— you wouldn’t all of a sudden expect Dwight Howard to look like Kevin McHale on the block next fall, would you? Dwight is who he is, and so is Drake.
Drake is mass appeal. Drake is pop culture personified. Therefore, it’s not a coincidence that he’s the prince of pop music, not hip-hop music.
HHSR’s Anthony Hueston called Drake “the son of 808s & Heartbreak Kanye”; Kenneth Hicks calls him “the Lionel Richie of rap.” When it comes to blending genres that results in a finished product that doesn’t look or feel remotely like traditional hip-hop, Drake is the same artist now he was on So Far Gone. What’s changed is the acceptance of rap music within the cultural zeitgeist. No longer is hip-hop looked upon as a niche brand strictly for Black people, or the young, the cool, the angry, the depressed, or the disenfranchised. Thanks to a long list of innovators including Kanye, Pharrell, The Roots, and even Drake, hip-hop has expanded into so much more. The maturation of hip-hop has also coincided with the growth of those individuals who first brought it to the mainstream.
We’ve always known Drake as a duel threat rapper/R&B singer. He’s now using Views to formally announce his crossover into dancehall, even if this dancehall dabbling was observed slightly earlier via “Hotline Bling” and “Work”. The numbers are in: the crossover is so killer, it would make Tim Hardaway proud. Drake is using records like “One Dance” to broaden his appeal to capture a European audience, a savvy move given the eclectic group of people who inhabit the city from which he’s offering his “view”. Would it really be “Views From The 6” if it were 60 minutes of ’90s East Coast rap?
Sidebar: The song features Kyla, a British singer who authored “Do You Mind“, from which “One Dance” was sampled.
If you’re in search of proper perspective, it’s probably best not to look at Drake as a “rapper”. Rather, Drake is a pop star (with a “pop style”) who happens to be really good at rapping, in a world where rap has finally been fully embraced as “popular music”. His versatility has separated himself from his peers, and has helped bring hip-hop into a mainstream space. Views is far more the byproduct of those two facts colliding than it is a run-of-the-mill-rap album. Understanding this may change the way you hear the latest from the Toronto son.