Thank Him...Soon Enough

ALBUM REVIEW

by Shardae Jobson
(released in the U.S. June 15, 2010)

Drake's presumptuous title of Thank Me Later for his full-length album debut is saved by the fact that a year prior he was declared as one of few and newly important faces of hip-hop music; mainly based upon the welcomed release of his 18-track mixtape So Far Gone (which earned a Grammy nomination for "Best I Ever Had"), and his crew affiliation with Lil' Wayne's Young Money. His album, unlike most that are regularly labeled as "anticipated" actually was, had critics and fans wondering if he would be able to capture the three minutes here, three minutes there of magic in his twenty-something lovely rants that became big hits for the brooding Canuck.

Thank Me Later is a good album with some great moments. What is more obvious on his debut is how expansively sentimental Aubrey Graham really is. Graham, aka Drake, has no inhibition in revealing (maybe even overzealously and unconsciously at times) how not so much of a playa he is, as he wants to portray next to rappers that showcase their stamina, but in actuality is a perpetual fervid, lovesick young man. There isn't a girl, regardless if he's officially dated them or not (like on the club-tastic and positively brandish "Fancy"), that didn't break his heart in some shape and form (the quickie romance inspired "Fireworks"), and it's all here to recall at your convenience and his discretion, like on "Find Your Love"

The album features quite a lot of cameos which sometimes takes away from wanting to have the Drake experience more adequately, as he is talented and sings more on the LP than he raps, and his singing is impassioned. "Karoake" has a Maxwell influence all over it, and "The Resistance" attempts a sibylline quality that was better than the over-worked "Shut It Down" that would've been better off shut off. Thank Me Later is really a contemporary R&B album, with about two or three tracks that likened to the rules of radio hip-hop music. The pompous "Over" is a winning song, but "Light Up" featuring Jay-Z doesn't spark anything. Drake's collaboration with Young Jeezy seems the most natural out of the guys featured, and Nicki Minaj's verse on "Up All Night" was the cherry needed to make it a future album favorite.

Almost every song on Thank Me Later ends with a mellowed breakdown as if Drake with only two minutes or less to spare, attempts to explain in plain English what he was too timid to say before, minus any distracting beats. His debut is an assiduous effort as already been deemed by some as a classic in the making based upon its clout. Graham still has some real classics to make in his young career, especially being such a contemplative artist, he's off to a good start...though the last song "Thank Me Now" should've been left unsaid. We'll give you plenty of applause if you stick with those amorous drenched tales of the relationship you're really in search of.

THE BEST: "Fireworks", "Karaoke", "Over", "Show Me a Good Time", "Up All Night", "Fancy", "Find Your Love"