Drake & Future's "What A Time To Be Alive" is Better Than I Thought But Not as Good as Everyone Thinks

After a whole lot of speculation for about a week or two, the world finally got the Drake x Future joint project, "What A Time To Be Alive". The mixtape (album?) really isn't as terrible as I thought it would be. Was it overhyped? Yes, but there are some good things within the project as a whole.

I have to start off by addressing the track "30 for 30 freestyle", the most glorious moment of the entire project. First off, Future wasn't anywhere near this track so that's a good thing. He could have easily ruined it with some useless auto-tune but Drake completely took the reigns on this one. It reminds me of a track straight off of "Take Care". The piano in the back, the soft bass from a drum pad, his flow that sounds like a reflection of his innermost thoughts, and the calmness and elegance of it all - it's truly a shining moment for Drake that emulates the essence of "Take Care". Outside of "30 For 30 Freestyle", every other song sounds more tailor-made for Future. The songs "I'm The Plug", "Live From the Gutter", and "Digital Dash" all have the same feel as a song from "DS2", just not as fresh sounding. It sounds very recycled to me from a production and lyrical standpoint.

Each one of those songs and many more off "WATTBA" weren't able to find balance like, for example, "Watch The Throne" did. Songs off "WTH" felt like Kanye West and Jay Z were rapping in tandem and the production blended the beats to go along with their styles and enhance them both. Here, Drake either feels like a feature on a Future album and vice versa. The only song I thought truly found that balance between them was "Diamonds Dancing". Both the 6 God and Future Hendrix were able to sing the hook in their known ways and together so it added to the infectious nature of the song and gave it a blended personality of Future and Drake. And I love the outro on it. It was a good call to have Drake sing it cause it leaves you wanting more.

Aside from the fact they didn't stand out together, "Jumpman" is a cool party song to dab to but nothing to really geek out about in my opinion. "What A Time To Be Alive" was okay, at best. Drake outshines Future so the project does lose its feeling of being a joint effort. But there are some songs I can take away from it and rock with for a while. Plus the excitement it caused for hip-hop was great so I can't be mad at it.

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