fan of the original Dirty
Sprite that he asked to
be involved in the project, ultimatley meaning
Drake doesn’t rock the
boat too much here. He
flexes his lyrical muscles more and leaves
the crooning to Future.
‘Big Rings‘ is the unofficial opener, loud and
bassy with Drake in
full 6 God mode,
making demands
for all they’ve
accomplished.
Futuredrops in and
out but doesn’t miss a
beat. He’s comfortable
here but knows when to
let Drake do the work.
‘Live From The Gutter‘
is more balanced. Future and Drake go back
to back with extended
verses. Drake delivers
a more fun and poppy
verse, following Future’s
surprisingly downbeat
start. From there the
assimilation is complete.
‘Diamonds Dancing‘ is
a huge record, and they
drift in and out with
verses that are sung,
rapped and play to both
of their strengths. Future’s high crooning balances perfectly against
Drakes 2 minute outro;
where he scolds a woman who wronged him.
The track works so well
because it’s more than
the two performances,
it sounds like they sat
down and worked on it
together. ‘Plastic Bag‘ is
the other perfect blend
of their two styles. An
ode to strippers that so
much of their music is
concerned with. It works
so well because of how
natural a concept it feels
for the two.
What A Time To Be Alive
is two artists at the top
of their game, who are
clear fans of each other.
Most importantly? The
project is fun as hell. The
fun they are both having
is palatable and, instead
of getting caught up in
the art, the listener is
always the primary concern. The project is off
the cuff, whilst still managing to be thoroughly
entertaining throughout;
and serves as the perfect pre-game for whatever plans they have for
the rest of the year.
Issue 1
YAUDIO Magazine