Billboard Hot 100: 09/18/2021

[mylo]

Idk why but CLB sounds like Scorpion's annoying younger brother.

[kcdawg13]

Finally finished this damn album, anddddd, it's a Drake album for sure. Idk what I was expecting but it's basically Scorpion Part 2, but there's no instant pop hits that I can hear, there's no Nice for What or God's Plan. CLB started on a extreme high with "Champagne Poetry" and continued into "Papi's Home," but the album continued on with Drake's regular slow moody beats, the energy rose briefly on "N 2 Deep" and the Yebba song is gorgeous but aside from that the album is full of skips. I actually think "Laugh Now Cry Later" itself is better than the whole album.

The album is a 6, not horrible but not great. Just straight mid.

I can't believe it's been three years since Scorpion and he just gave us this same stuff again, wish he would do something more risky like Take Care again instead of these watered down trap beats. Pretty disappointing from a Drake fan :/

[earth]

Yebba's heartbreak is the best song drake has ever put out and it's not even his song lol

[atg]

CLB First Listen Review:

Champagne Poetry: A bit boring for an intro. I wanted him to do a Over My Dead Body, Tuscan Leather, Legend or Deep Pockets type of intro but it does pick up towards the end (6/10).

Papi’s Home: I really wish Nicki would stop messing around and actually feature on a Drake album again. Otherwise the song is actually a vibe (8/10).

Girls Want Girls: The lesbian line was terrible execution and definitely a line that should’ve been in the vault and never see the light of day so it definitely brings the quality down. This might be controversial but i actually liked Baby’s verse on this song better than him on Hurricane so he saves the song (4.5/10).

In Da Bible: Lil Durk and Giveon made the vibe of this song work. I really didn’t like how low energy and out of place Drake sounded in comparison. I disliked how the chorus sounded like Take Care vibes and then it went back to the boring side of Drake we all been dealing with (5/10).

Love All: I loved both Drake and Hov and this is a banger, nothing more to say (8.5/10).

Fair Trade: The one i was waiting for and glad to see Travis was on it but i wished the sample was used a tad bit less. Otherwise i love the song and an obvious choice for a single (9/10).

Way 2 Sexy: This should’ve hit harder than what we got, maybe it’s how the song kinda drags out (5.5/10).

TSU: Boring intro imo, but this is basically the Not Around leaked track and it’s not that special (6/10).

N 2 Deep: The better Future collab track. I liked the beat switch but it could’ve been 2 separate tracks and it would’ve hit harder on both (6/10).

Pipe Down: The song is better if you think of it as a vibe, so let’s just leave it at that for the better (7/10).

Yebba’s Heartbreak: Basically the Skepta’s Interlude/Wednesday Night Interlude of the album. This is also where the album goes in a different direction compared to the first half (8/10).

No Friends in The Industry: This is if Landed meets Popstar, but the production, bars and energy is at an all time high. I loved the sample and how it was utilized, and the track overall is just adrenaline (9.5/10).

Knife Talk: Everyone did their thing on the track, and is a way better collab with Drake and 21 compared to Mr. Right Now (8.5/10).

7am On Bridle Path: It’s a time and location song, i would be surprised if it was a miss (9.5/10).

Race My Mind: This is an amazing vibe and loved the shift between the melancholic and the rapping (8/10).

Fountains: This is just Essence without Wizkid, kinda boring and Tems deserved better (4/10).

Get Along Better: I wish Ty Dolla had more to do but this song does drag out a bit (5/10)

You Only Live Twice: If you know how much Lord Knows mean to me, you would understand. Wayne snapped so hard on this, he’s been killing his 2021 features lately (9.5/10).

IMY2: Drake and Cudi doesn’t sound like something that would happen especially in 2021, but i’m so glad this did happen and they both came to make a certified hit! (9.5/10).

Fucking Fans: Nothing too special, dragging out and kinda a skip tbh (4.5/10)

The Remorse: Drake is really like an Oreo at this point. I don’t even know where his killer intro’s and outro’s have gone. The Ride, Pound Cake, 6pm in New York, Do Not Disturb (especially), that’s how you make a Drake outro, not this mess. Just like the last track it just drags out (5/10).

Overall: 7.5/10

I’ll give it this, it does sound way better than Scorpion and More Life as a whole. I just wish he would evaluate what and what not to put on the album. Taking out the lows would definitely raise the quality, but the highs do have some elements in them that I could’ve just done without. I wish Wants And Needs was on the album and not the new Drake and Baby collab we got, and also LNCL instead of In The Bible. Regardless, if i were to rank his projects including CLB it would probably go like this:

1. Take Care
2. If You’re Reading This
3. Nothing Was The Same
4. Views
5. CLB
6. Dark Lane Demo Tapes
7. So Far Gone
8. What A Time
9. Thank Me Later
10. More Life
11. Scorpion

[thegreatdivine]

Maybe, just maybe, Drake taking LNCL/Wants and Needs/What's Next off the album and dropping a full album of new songs is because he doesn't want people to just look to him for hit records with this album.

He has enough hits for 5 careers. He can score more hits next year if he wants. I love the album. Certain songs will have to grow more on me but people comparing this to Scorpion are wrong. He's A LOT more focused on this than on Scorpion. None of the songs drag here like they did on Scorpion SIDE B. The rapping here is a lot sharper and better and the features are a lot better. This album is the farthest thing from Scorpion. I will say, however, that while there were 1 or 2 songs on the first half of the album I didn't care for, the latter half of the album is a lot stronger. 

It's also telling that most of you just listened to the album to scan for what could be a potential single. I think he made this album this way to not play into that.

[Abbaschand]

CLB is...definitely a Drake album. Not the rapping Drake, the singing Drake. I mean, there are some rap songs on the album, and it's all alright, but I guess this one's not for me. Says a lot when the best song in the album is the one with no Drake in it! I hope this will be the breakthrough YEBBA deserves.

CLB got a 5 from me.

[firefox]

Need to listen again to the album. But on my first listen, "Fountain" with Tems is my favorite. Tho it sounds like One Dance.

[violentdreams]

The best songs on CLB are his best in like five years and his rapping sounds hungrier on a lot of these songs than it has in a very long time, so I think this album succeeds more than it doesn't. Lack of immediate hits aside, this is a much more competent and fleshed out album than Scorpion. However, given that it's pretty obviously not an album made to have a lot of smash hits, I don't get the point of bloating it so much with songs that are nondescript and instantly forgettable. He said he wanted to make a more concise and focused album, and there are enough highlights to make a concise and focused album (one that would be his best since NWTS), but for some reason there's still stream trolling dragging down the quality of the album. It's disappointing he still feels the need to do that even on an album like this.

[jthentic]

Bruh they're promoting girls wants girls (da weakest & wackiest track) as single. Bullshit

[Enigma.]

So they are pushing the millionth Right Said Fred sample and a track where Drake says he's a lesbian? Surely there is a cohesive album there somewhere then, they just don't want people to hear it.

Listen to Good Ones and Dawn of Chromatica!

[starlord]

Manifesting:

Hurricane for No.1 for Last Week.
Fair Trade for No.1 for This Week.

All 5 of them, understood there assignment.

[iHype.]

I think it’s moreso just clear the people who aren’t Drake fans and have never really liked an album by him (and will say they liked Take Care, one album, a decade ago) are just not magically going to get material that makes them stan this far out lol. And for the ones who are fans they will inevitably get the mixture of songs they need.

This is the same with every single project from him. The casuals saying they didn’t like much, and then the people who love Drake spin it regardless.

[Normi]

In other news... Baby Queen released her debut mixtape and I'd much rather listen to that one than Drake's especially after reading your comments

[ovoastroworld]

Sept 3, 2021 2:43:19 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Maybe, just maybe, Drake taking LNCL/Wants and Needs/What's Next off the album and dropping a full album of new songs is because he doesn't want people to just look to him for hit records with this album.

He has enough hits for 5 careers. He can score more hits next year if he wants. I love the album. Certain songs will have to grow more on me but people comparing this to Scorpion are wrong. He's A LOT more focused on this than on Scorpion. None of the songs drag here like they did on Scorpion SIDE B. The rapping here is a lot sharper and better and the features are a lot better. This album is the farthest thing from Scorpion. I will say, however, that while there were 1 or 2 songs on the first half of the album I didn't care for, the latter half of the album is a lot stronger. 

It's also telling that most of you just listened to the album to scan for what could be a potential single. I think he made this album this way to not play into that.

Yeah definitely agree with you. people are mostly focused on single  hits from the album but this is not a single but an album. Its a story with the chapters. i enjoyed more by listening to it in order rather than look for hits. as a drake fan i will definitely be picking hits from the album but that is after a few days of just enjoying the album as one thing .

nb: i guess people listen to albums in different ways especially if you are not a hardcore , all you want will be the hits rather the amazing journey of the artist album

[thegreatdivine]

ovoastroworld a video for Way 2 Sexy is shot and ready to go but I don't know if they'll be pushing it as a single right away. The album really doesn't have to have an "obvious" hit. If people latch on to a song and decide that's the song they like, it can become a hit off that.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

[thegreatdivine]

Sept 3, 2021 3:40:11 GMT -5 iHype. said:

I think it’s moreso just clear the people who aren’t Drake fans and have never really liked an album by him (and will say they liked Take Care, one album, a decade ago) are just not magically going to get material that makes them stan this far out lol. And for the ones who are fans they will inevitably get the mixture of songs they need.

This is the same with every single project from him. The casuals saying they didn’t like much, and then the people who love Drake spin it regardless.

So many people who aren't actually Drake fans. They can't name you one of his songs if it didn't reach #1 or the top 10 or if they didn't hear it on radio. They'll claim Take Care is his best and only good album because that's what they see other people say. It's very predictable.

[jayhawk1117]

I mean I mentioned singles because this is about the Hot 100 lol. I'm a Drake fan but but not a Stan. It just feels rather samey from him for most of the songs and I know he CAN give us something better

[rosalina4812]

Just listened to CLB and I can safely confirmed that DONDA is much better. Even has a better Lil Baby feature.

[Enigma.]

But if the general consensus is that Drake hasn't created a great album in years, why cannot we (casual fans) act that way? If we consider both critical score and user score on Metacritic, Take Care and If YOu're Reading This... are his best albums.

Same applies to Kanye. It's not really WRONG to say that Ye, JIK and Donda are not among his best work.

[iHype.]

Sept 3, 2021 5:46:06 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

But if the general consensus is that Drake hasn't created a great album in years, why cannot we (casual fans) act that way? If we consider both critical score and user score on Metacritic, Take Care and If YOu're Reading This... are his best albums.

I wouldn’t consider it a general consensus. PLENTY of the public loved Views, More Life, and yeah… some people liked Scorpion. In fact that’s where the divide with critical/user scores comes in heavily IMO. People who don’t understand why there is such a love/phenomenon for his music.

VIews, More Life, Scorpion, and CLB are all different approaches to his music. Views had a lot island/pop influences, More Life touched on UK/grime influence, Scorpion was specifically trying to have a rap side and sing side, while CLB is more concise to him as a general rapper.

For the people who disliked all of those, they probably can’t even tell you what *they actually WOULD want* from Drake. Literally what do you want if all those aren’t suited for you lmao? I just think a lot of it is discontent with the fact it simply is Drake lol. Like what about Take Care is even truly magically different… Headlines, The Motto, HYFR, etc are all great Rap songs but definitely not untouchable…he’s had plenty of that caliber since. I’m also failing to see how the criticism wouldn’t still be “tired” and “more of the same from him” if he released songs like that in the year 2021.

[thegreatdivine]

Sept 3, 2021 5:46:06 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

But if the general consensus is that Drake hasn't created a great album in years, why cannot we (casual fans) act that way? If we consider both critical score and user score on Metacritic, Take Care and If YOu're Reading This... are his best albums.

Same applies to Kanye. It's not really WRONG to say that Ye, JIK and Donda are not among his best work.

Because your opinion on something should always be based on what YOU think, not what you see other people think. A good example: Kanye's 2008 album, 808s and Heartbreak, didn't get as much critical acclaim from fans or critics like his other 3 albums, mostly because it marked a departure from his previous work but years down the line, when people began to see how much it's influenced other artists and how well it's aged, they've changed their opinions and it's probably cited today as his most influential album.

People tore Drake apart when Views dropped but today most of those people call it one of his albums and one of the ones they go back to the most and they talk about the summer of 2016 like it was the best summer of their lives and how much Drake's songs that year had a lot to do with that (I still don't think it's a great album but I like it a lot better now than when it first dropped as well).

A last example. Jay Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, is widely regarded as his magnum opus, but when it first dropped, people tore it down critically. As time has passed, that has changed and today, if you tell a rap fan that album isn't a classic, they can attack you. It's like saying Nas' Illmatic isn't a classic.

My point is that just because critics or certain people say something is bad the moment it's released doesn't make it true. All art is subjective and your thoughts on it should be based on what YOU took from it not you going online, seeing what the general consensus is and then agreeing because you don't want to say the opposite.

There are many movies and albums I LOVE LIKE CRAZY today that have very poor scores on Rotten Tomatoes/Metacritic. I don't let what other people think of something affect what I think of it.

Critics will have you believe Divide is some terrible album but I think it's a solid Ed Sheeran album with his best song ever and I'll stand by that forever.

If you genuinely think CLB is a bad album, that's great, so long as you're just not saying that because you don't think it has any hits or because you see other people saying that. That's all I'm saying.

Sorry for the long post, by the way.

[Enigma.]

Hmm I don't think it's a bad album (just listened to most of it), I just think he's capable of way more. But maybe it's "pop star thinking" I have going on.

Whatever his image is right now among the general public, it's not changing with this album.

[thegreatdivine]

Sept 3, 2021 6:10:27 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

Hmm I don't think it's a bad album (just listened to most of it), I just think he's capable of way more. But maybe it's "pop star thinking" I have going on.

Whatever his image is right now among the general public, it's not changing with this album.

Fair critique. What would you like him to do more of or what more do you think he could do?

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Anyway both the new Charli and Little Mix are fine but feels really safe lyrically and musically. Far from either of their best but both acts always been pretty inconsistent when it comes to their singles so I'm not too worried and I still think the album will be nice. Good Ones has a fun music video at least

[Enigma.]

Sept 3, 2021 6:18:52 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Fair critique. What would you like him to do more of or what more do you think he could do?

Choose Pet Shop Boys or Erasure instead of that Right Said Fred sample lol

In general, i think he could use more of unexpected pop references and bring on more surprising guests - like how about more aggressive guitar driven tracks now that it's popular? He had those Mimi and Michael Jackson guest spots on Scorpion and they worked pretty well, so why not build more on more interesting figures than Future, Lil Baby and Lil Durk (I know they have collaborated often, but do we need those collaborations year after year, especially when they are prolific by themselves)?

Also, if we are talking about good albums, the #1 rule is to keep it under 60 minutes, whatever the genre.

[strongerq]

AM just updated. Every song is in top 25

[twelvevinylrecords]

I cannot believe I am saying this, but Scorpion is honestly a better album.

More importantly Bobby Schmurda dropped (which is a sentence I thought would never be spoken again)

[phieaglesfan712]

Here's an early look at your 9/18/2021 Billboard Hot 100:

1. Drake song
2. Drake song
3. Drake song
4. Drake song
5. Drake song
6. Drake song
7. Drake song
8. Drake song
9. Drake song
10. Drake song
11. Drake song
12. Drake song
13. Drake song
14. Drake song
15. Drake song
16. Drake song
17. Drake song
18. Drake song
19. Drake song
20. Drake song
21. Drake song
22. Stay
23. Bad Habits
24. Good 4 u
25. Hurricane

[thegreatdivine]

I'm calling it right now. No Friends in the Industry will be debuting at #1 on the Hot 100. It'll be Nonstop all over again, except this time, Drake doesn't have a bigger hit to block him.