What Drake’s “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” Foreshadows About Drakes Sixth Album
Releasing in a fashion reserved only for the tier A list artists, Drizzy Drake has surprised fans by releasing a full project titled “Dark Lane Demo Tapes.” Very soon after the OVO Sound twitter confirmed the midnight release on Thursday (April 30th), we all had a new Drake project, that Champagne Papi himself said consisted of “some leaks, some joints from SoundCloud and some new vibes.” With the release of “Dark Lane Demo Tapes,” Drake also confirmed his sixth studio album will be coming this summer. That could be what many fans had hoped to be the long-anticipated “Take Care 2.”
Standing at 14 songs and 50 minutes, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” sports more rapping than Drake fans are used to. The project also featured a few R&B cuts including the hit single “Tootsie Slide” that many fans consider a song meant to take advantage of the current trend of viral dances on the social media app TikTok.
On “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” Drake got deep into his “talking to you while I rap” bag with songs like “Losses,” “Chicago Freestyle” and “When To Say When.” The project also has a few high profile features, including two Future tracks, one of which including Young Thug on “D4L.” Chris Brown was also featured on a track for his backup vocal work on “Not You Too.” The “mixtape” also features Brooklyn Drill artists Fivio Foreign and Sosa Geek, along with singer Giveon and baby voice Playboi Carti.
Although the quality of the project truly does feel like that of a mixtape, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” gives fans a glimpse of the large range that Drake has become known for. Whether it be revealing all his feelings on a soul sample like “When To Say When,” gliding on a hard 808 bass on “Pain 1993” or even murking a drill beat like on “Demons,” Drake has become a chameleon of the music industry in a way we’ve never seen. However, all of this begs the question, what will this supposed summer album sound like?
While there’s a good chance that wherever a Drake project is there will be a balance of different vibes. Drake getting so deep into his rapping bag on “Dark Lane Demo Tapes,” alludes to his upcoming album falling in line with previous R&B focused albums, similar to “Thank Me Later” or “Views.” Soon after “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” was released, Drake was already teasing a new track where he was singing softly on a hard bass. But there’s no way to be sure what will be on the new Drake album, except hits.
If Drake is really going to drop a “Take Care 2”, on the same quality level of his Magnum Opus up to this point, we can expect a blend of hits and emotional classics. On “Take Care” Drake was praised for being able to give us Hip-Hop smash hits like “Headlines” and “The Motto” while switching the vibe to deeply emotional tracks like “Marvin’s Room” or “Shot for Me.” On “Take Care,” Drake also supplied the clubs and radio waves with hits like “Crew Love” and “Take Care” also giving us pure honesty on songs like “Look What You’ve Done” and “The Ride” at the same time. This unprecedented level of versatility is unmatched in the music industry, but at the same time, this versatility has left fans unsatisfied for the last few projects, as Drake can sometimes stretch himself thin trying to provide too many different sounds. So with “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” falling back into that peak level of versatility, and Drake’s early dark late-night sound, Drake’s upcoming album is most likely going to be “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” on steroids.
But all in all, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” is a solid project, including enough vibes to where all Drake fans can find something on there that they like. Similar to “Care Package” it feels like this new project is just Drake biding his time while still staying extremely relevant. And after his last album “Scorpion” was considered to be mediocre regardless of the success of the hits from the album, this new project should excite Drake fans for a return to top form. While Scorpion was Drake focused on separating his rap sound from his R&B sound, it's the blend of the two that people love. The fact that the artist can basically pick up any mainstream sound that he wants and execute to perfection is worrisome for anyone wanting something specific from Drake. But expectation is everything in the music industry, and we know that there will be a blend of singing and rapping, but will we be getting “Controlla” and “One Dance” vibes again? Is Drake gonna go the TikTok song Route? No one knows we’re all in the same boat just waiting for the 6 God to supply us with captions for such an uneventful year.
