‘Scorpion’ stings us with a lot at once
Following the short-lived, unanswered beef between Pusha T and Drake, many deemed Pusha T the rightful winner when Drake didn’t respond quickly. But following the release of his fifth studio album, “Scorpion,” last week, Drake was able to feed off the widespread anticipation and gain more traction for his latest project.
Almost 90 minutes in length, the album is 25 songs split into two parts. It’s clear that Drake reworked some of his bars to address the cliffhanger that Pusha T’s diss track, “The Story of Adidon,” left us on. Drake is no novice when it comes to experimenting, and dropping this album when he did was arguably a clever move to attract more listeners from diverse backgrounds and music preferences.
Dabbling into other genres and cultures has become his forte, considering his almost cheesy attempts at other accents, as well as the samples and hidden features on this album. He even sampled late musicians Michael Jackson and Static Major on “Don’t Matter To Me” and “After Dark,” respectively. The former left me pleasantly spooked.
But no matter how corny Drake is at times, he always gives us something authentic we can relate to. And to keep this sentiment with his fans, he made it his mission to keeps it real with all of us — something he hasn’t been doing for the past few months.
The first half of “Scorpion” is primarily where Drake gets a lot off his chest. He finally addresses the bomb that was dropped on us last month regarding his hidden child. On “Emotionless,” he spits: “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world / I was hiding the world from my kid.”
While this line may or may not be a cover-up, he confirmed early on the album that he does have a child. Drake also dedicates a whole track to his son, Adonis, on “March 14,” ranking alongside “Emotionless” as one of the best songs lyrically.
After getting embarrassed in late May, it seemed that Drake felt the need to reassert his dominance. In “8 Out Of 10,” he raps: “The only deadbeats is whatever beats I been rappin’ to,” a response to suggestions he’s a deadbeat father.
Drake made numerous references about the toxicity of technology and social media in today’s digital age in “Emotionless.” Here, a frustrated Drake touched on haters’ habit of trying to bring him down due to their own insecurities. Similarly, in “Peak,” he said: “People are only as tough as they phone allows them to be,” and in “Can’t Take A Joke,” “my comments section killin’ me.”
He also went on a tangent about people’s desire to stunt and make rash posts on social media in order to gain acceptance and attention from society. “Look at the way we live,” he rapped.
Despite his excessive use of arrogant raps in the first half of the album, Drake does revert back to his old self during the second half. Between several somber ballads and his soothing R&B vocals, I’m glad he gave us the side of him we’re all used to. “Peak” and “Summer Games” provide us with raw emotion and relatability.
“Nice for What” was released as a single back in April but is featured on Drake’s latest album, “Scorpion.” The song, which is sampled from Lauryn Hill, topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for its first four weeks.
He also made known his hatred of social media use as it pertains to relationships. Drake sampled a scene from “Atlanta” at the very end of “In My Feelings,” and he seemed fed up with being used for his looks and fame.
“Scorpion” is a masterful mess. Ghostwriters or not, Drake definitely has a way with words. The two-part design of the album provides some organization, yet lost focus with a few misplaced and unnecessary tracks.
The samples and variety of vocal undertones seemed a little excessive at times, deviating from the overall sound of each song. Regardless, Drake never fails to deliver when he drops a new project. He tried to put on a tough guy persona, but we all know he’s a softy at heart. Although corny almost every time he does this, we just have to let Drake rock because he has the stats to back it up.
Cydney Lee is a junior psychology major. Her music column appears biweekly in Pulp. You can email her at cmlee100@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter @cydneylee_.