Songs live and die on the strength of said melodies, and the one in God’s Plan’s verses is a little dreary. In the past decade, rap has streamlined – and in the worst cases, devolved – its songwriting to deliver lyrics in a single melody line over and over again. With a beat that offers a nice tropical twist on Hotline Bling, this isn’t Drake’s finest lyrical hour – ah, how relatable the tribulations of having to deal with insincere people when you’re famous! But the chorus is karaoke-strong, Drake singing forcefully in his higher register, as if doing an impromptu performance on a banquette in a busy club.

Hopefully, the new album Certified Lover Boy will expand on this. Demons (feat Fivio Foreign and Sosa Geek) (2020)įor someone who attaches himself – some have said parasitically – to all sorts of global music styles, Drake has done relatively little drill, though this track from the water-treading Dark Lane Demo Tapes suggests he’s well-suited to its bass lurch and asymmetric cymbals. But he closes the album with a beautifully jazzy take on a particular Drake mode: executive slam poetry, as if delivered conversationally to businessmen around the Nespresso machine in a first-class airport lounge. The collaborative album with Future, What a Time to Be Alive, is overrated, Drake wanting to tick off an Atlanta trap project but struggling to write hooks that find purchase in the cold snares (the club-igniting Jumpman is dumb, boring and rips off Gucci Mane, do not me).

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