Following a lawsuit over lost wages, the rappers were able to clear the air, resulting in Future joining Drake on his Jungle Tour this past spring.
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In other words…WTF? This album might actually sell over half a million copies in a shortened week (it came out Sunday, as opposed to the now industry-wide Friday release schedule)??? The two rappers also appeared on Future’s Honest track “Never Satisfied in 2014 before reuniting again for DS2’s “Where Ya At?” Things remain laid-back and murky on “Scholarships”, the “My life is so great, I can’t be bothered” subject matter is well-worn and when Future croons “I’m ballin’ out of control”, even he sounds bored. But I knew that these two could work together well. After fans feverishly pleaded for rap’s top tag-team to release a collaborative project together, the turn-up tandem obliged and handed us What a Time To Be Alive.
Drake and Future reportedly recorded the 11-track mixtape over six days. He’s the one setting the tone and establishing the aesthetic.
The album was released through Cash Money with Epic Records, so even if performance falls short of expectations, you might as well cue up a Birdman hand rub, as the Cash Money supervillain overlord may just be the biggest victor of all. But the album belongs to Future in a lot of ways.
Drake also uses a sports analogy to take on his critics – presumably including Meek Mills, a rapper who sparked controversy by charging that Drake did not write his own songs.
Drake reportedly additionally stated, “Sunday we’re gonna make a motherf– film”.
Others were quick to shut down those who compared WATTBA with Jay Z and Kanye West’s LP Watch The Throne, which was released in 2011. And once the excitement of that event wears off, it still has to function as an album. While Future has a menacing, no-fucks vibe, Drake, going hard, sounds eager to please. Both artists have rejected the “sensitive” label that was once stuck to them. With What A Time, they’ve practically made a concept about about distrusting the entire outside world and also fucking strippers.
According to Drake, the mixtape is “a little soundtrack for people that need it”.
His only noteworthy moment comes at the end of the tape with “30 for 30 Freestyle”, where he’s detached from Future and reunited with longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib.
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Drake wraps up the project solo, with the most explicit digs at his Philadelphia-based foe yet.
