Honestly, I’m Sold
I want the merch, I want the vinyl, I want tickets to his next Vegas show. I’m all in on this project.
It is my opinion that this might go down as Drake’s most significant piece of work. Why? Well, let’s get into the mix.
Drake worked with new and old collaborators to “Sacagawea” him through this undiscovered House/Dance terrain. If that statement sounds like I’m comparing Culture-Vulture Papi to Lewis and Clarke, that’s because the accusation is not completely baseless. We’ve seen Drake go along with the Skepta’s and Romeo Santos and Tems of the world to develop his own sounds and discover yet-to-be-tapped raw talent from a mainstream perspective. And as music lovers, we have all seen Drake take something near and dear to us and slap an owl and Frank Sinatra-esque crooner vocals over it and make millions. Trust me, my friends, I am far from disillusioned to the cringe-cloud floating ominously over all of our heads any time a new project from the OVO head honcho is announced. So why is THIS, Honestly, Nevermind, not THAT?
First, we have to look at these House collaborators. They are not the Tchami or Diplo or even more palpable RL Grime types well versed in the mainstream hip-hop-adjusted production world. He enlisted the help of Richard Zastenker, a producer whose Spotify indicates that he still lives in a studio apartment and is a missed rent payment away from quitting DJing altogether. But that type of urgent, intentional, and raw sound is exactly what he, Gordo, and Drake created on “Massive”; a sound that is crisp and freeing without obnoxious bass. Just sexy repetition and the most Massive musician of my generation lending his voice and grandiosity; “I know my funeral gonna be lit just how I treat people”. I believe it will be lit and significantly more purveyors of this sacred art form, House Music, will be in attendance.
Now, it would be remiss of me to neglect the objectively “bad” portions of the project. Gordo, a producer-slash-DJ who has graced countless festival stages in the past few years, is DEFINITELY going to mainline every single collaboration of Drake’s to his shows and many of those crowds are a mix of Bass heads and hip-hop headbangers. It is not farfetched to suggest that the entire production is removed from the tradition of intimate settings and playing pseudo-spiritual, infinitely infatuating, purist-to-a-fault, rhythms of disco and techno. But again, Gordo formerly known as Carnage, is also going through his own transformation, a natural one as he and his fans realize that knee cartilage does not heal and head banging can cause mild concussions. House provides and has always provided a cool sensual musical experience for the grown and sexy. (Do people still say grown and sexy?) And this is where Drake has ALWAYS lived and created some of his best music; Tip-toeing with Dance/Island-beats with “Controlla” and “One Dance” and more directly house-driven with “Passionfruit”, and “Get it Together” with Jorja Smith and Black Coffee.
Ironically, Black Coffee's contributions on Honestly, Nevermind are not my favorite. Songs such as “Overdrive” and “Currents” seem to fall short of inspiring and align with the opinions of many accusing the project of being generic. I can counter that with the fact that Black Coffee is incredibly laid back as a default which undoubtedly translates to his production style and live shows. But nonetheless this critique rings true to an extent. Black Coffee being credited so frequently does, however, show a level of continuity which to me displays Drake’s genuine commitment to rounding out his House and Dance resume. In my opinion, you can’t really ask for much else from an artist of Drake’s magnitude. He is not slapping his OVO owl on some top 40 DJ’s work, he is instead slapping Honestly, Nevermind on top of his discography in a meaningful way. Literally and figuratively, the teased merch dropped mentioned earlier does exactly this with the crystalized gooey letters of this new project superimposed over previous discs artwork like Take Care and If You're Reading This You’re Too Late.
My Top Songs from Honestly, Never Mind:
Massive
Sticky
Flights Booked
Falling Back
Tie That Binds
Listen, if there is anything I want you to walk away with it’s this: this is not Drake’s Rebirth. This is Drake’s 808’s. And it is every bit as culturally significant. Maybe more. Only time will tell.
As a person who has an ear to the ground to a very local yet extremely far-reaching Austin, and Central Texas House talent, I have no doubt that Honestly, Nevermind will be mixed and remixed and reworked and stretched so far by MUCH more talented producers than any of Drake’s collaborators. Ultimately, in this scene, that is what you want. The word of the people, if it is alive anywhere, is alive in those 5 am kitchen sets and in the darkest, smokiest, smallest rooms where people go to find something that cannot be put into words or contained within 16 bars. Drake may have dipped his toe into a pool beyond his depth, but the real arbiters of the underground sensed it. They heard it. And whether they like it or not, many will rework it. That is what I am most excited for; not Drake’s new project but Drake’s new inspiration.