drake

Drake’s comin’ back strong after the rumors of being dropped from Young Mula, first with his performance on Khaled’s “I’m On One” (a banger in itself) and “Dreams Money Can Buy”, both tracks produced, or at least co-produced, by Noah “40″ Shebib (“I’m On One” also produced by T-Minus). Much like previous Drake tracks, he combines his rhyming and singing talents, but leans more heavily towards rapping.  Drake, however, seems to have more ferocity both in his voice and lyrics these days, aided here by the forward, but soft and melodic background sample/refrain “Don’t F**k With Me” despite the very laid back beat. Although conflicting sources report on whether the track is the first single, or featured, on his upcoming project, Take Care, it is certainly a showcase of what Drake has been doing lately and marks his return as a true talent.

Download: Drake – “Dreams Money Can Buy”

The internets have been waiting on this for a long time, and now we finally get ourselves a Drake/J. Cole collaboration. And yes, it does live up to its expectations. Off of Friday Nights Lights, set to drop tomorrow, “In The Morning” showcases J. Cole and Drake trading off about love, sex, and all those fine things. The subject matter plays greatly to Drake’s favor, but Cole does not lag behind in the slightest. Drake takes a more lustful approach to the track while Cole is more direct, and both approaches work extremely well.

Download: J. Cole – “In The Morning” feat. Drake

If any of you follow Kanye’s Twitter, you might now how “All Of The Nights” has gone through dozens of mixes. According to the good folks over at The Real Frequency, this is the original version featuring Drake on the hook. Just like with the other released tracks off of Twisted Fantasy, expect the final mix (featuring 11 other guests) to be much more polished and touched up. The synth horns on this sound great and the track in general is presented in a way that will hopefully allow it to resonate in Top 40 radio more than “Power” and “Runaway” have. The supposed full version of “All Of The Lights” is floating around right now, but I’d rather not post it until it’s 100% ready. If you’re just too damn impatient, then head over to The Rap Up.

Download: Kanye West – “All Of The Lights” feat. Drake & Tony Williams (Original Version)

For those die-hard fans, October’s Very Own drops another hot track that is catching on quick (as usual).  The first track off of his upcoming (R&B?) mixtape, It’s Never Enough, “I Get Lonely Too” exhibits the same style, depth, and artistic ability that Drake’s career has been marked by thus far.  Returning to his “R&B” roots, Drake plays the 40 beat perfectly into his strengths (mainly his ability to swing the use of autotune into soulful and intimate vocals), just as he had previously done on “Houstatlantavegas,” “November 18th,” and on countless hooks like “Best I Ever Had” and “Over.”  While the track construction does not show much maturity as an artist, Drizzy has undoubtedly found a method and equation that works; and, as a result, he continues to churn out hit after hit, albeit a little monotonous.  Drake effortlessly blends with/plays off of the beat in a smooth, melodic fashion that gets the listener to go with the track and ignore the feeling of déja vu while listening. Nonetheless a sick track and I look forward to the mixtape (supposedly dropping December 30th).

Download: Drake – “I Get Lonely Too”

Chris Brown gets quite the line-up for the remix to his first big hit in a while that didn’t involve Rihanna (I can die in peace now that I’ve successfully used that pun). Most people were anticipating this solely because of the 3 Stacks verse, though the remainder of the guests do draw some attention as well. To be fair, Andre does not stand out on this remix, but that’s not to say he did not have some great lines. This is truly a remix for the ladies, as all of these rappers (with the possible exception of Tyga) are well-versed in the ways of womanizer rap. The downloadable version is clean, but the explicit should drop shortly.

Download: Chris Brown – “Deuces” (Remix)

To reward the fans for having 50,000 Twitter followers Bun B let go of the first single off of Pimp C’s upcoming album The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones. Boi-1da handles the productions with a horn soulful horn loop surrounded by some synths and a fast paced hi hat. Drake adds a verse at the beginning and a sung chorus while the UGK members do what they do with Pimp adding his unique flow which I have come to appreciate more and more since he passed away. Support the legacy and purchase The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones which releases on Oct. 5th.

Download: Pimp C ft. Bun B & Drake – “What Up”

Mr. 10 Million keeps the TML train going with visuals for “Miss Me”. Maybe it’s Drake’s actor side, but there isn’t really a need for this guy to be making so many dramatic videos. The cinematography and post-production work is crazy on this, but it just feels too much for a track like “Miss Me” (that’s not a knock at the track though). The video in itself is great, but I keep feeling that it doesn’t gel with the song that well.  Shit, I would’ve been satisfied with a run-of-the-mill Hype Williams treatment as long as it had a 2-second Bun cameo at the “Drake you got’em right?” line, so you can’t say I’m picky.

Fresh off the Anchorman mixtape, here are two singles that merit being checked out. One is a blog-hyped Drake collaboration, while the other is my personal favorite and what I believe to be the best track from this project. On “Faith”, Drake and k-os go in over a smooth triplet rhythm while k does a bit of crooning to help set the mood. It’s one of those songs that sounds like it would work great live, such as on Jimmy Fallon with the full Roots treatment. “Joni Mitchellin’ Peeling Out” shows both k-os and Saukrates dominating over a beat that has your head nodding from the get-go with its rhythm guitar and horns. Both rappers own the track, but it’s worth pointing out that k-os brings an amazing flow that supports the loose poetics of his verse. As Sauks would say, it’s flyer than helium.

Download: k-os: “Joni Mitchellin’ Peeling Out” feat. Saukrates x “Faith” feat. Drake

While he is considered a leader of the old school Houston style, Bun B shows some real progression on Trill OG with a huge transition from the outdated and repetitive Texas, “Michael ’5000′ Watts” production style to a track list full of a more well-rounded cast of producers that relate to all sorts of listeners but that still keeps to his gritty Texas heritage.  This is especially evident on “It’s Been a Pleasure”, a track that features both the rookie of the year, Drake, and up and coming super producer Boi-1da.  The track was listed on various Drake mixtapes, such as Far From Over, but was shortened (it did not include Bun’s rhymes) and fairly unpolished; however, nothing about the final version seems rushed or unrefined.
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Samuel remixes and gives a more rock/pop sound to one of Drake’s hits off of his debut album Thank Me Later. Since Drake sings the whole time it sounds similar in that regard but the Knocks have added a funky guitar part in the chorus and a distorted bassline to give it their own touch. Samuel has come a long way since we first featured him on B&B over a year ago with “Say Goodbye”, he recently scored a hit on the internet (according to Hype Machine) with “I Heart NY” and now he is catering to the hip-hop crowd with this remake. I have been waiting on some sort of project from him since the beginning and I still have no word on a release date.

Download: Samuel – “Find Your Love” (Prod. The Knocks)