Gigwise Review Drake's Thank Me Later 'One Of The Debut Albums Of The Year"

Actor turned rapper Drake’s first album proper sees the Toronto native flitting between champagne egotism and introspective self-doubt in a way that can only be described as post-Kanye. Taking West’s ‘808’s and Heartbreak’ as a blueprint, Drake adds his own spin on things looking at life from the view of a young buck climbing the ladder of success as opposed to one already at the top looking out. The results are positive with Drake standing head and shoulders above the competition, and establishing ‘Thank Me Later’ as one of the debut albums of the year.

The firepower around Drake is as enviable as it is prestigious. Alicia Keys joins him on album opener ‘Fireworks’, a track that gossip hounds will tell you is about the time Drake got caught in a romantic episode with Rihanna. “What happened between us that night it always seems to trouble me” he spits, clearly confused at the fact he got played when, as he is so keen to tell us throughout, he is usually the player. Keys lifts the track with a chorus that, whilst not quite ‘Empire Of The State’ level, is one that she can line alongside ‘Fallin’ and ‘No One’ as one of the best.

Click here to read the full review on Gigwise (this is just an extract)