Drake “Over”
With all the grand strides Drake made as THE breakout hip-hop artist of 2009 (both on-line and off-), the idea of the lead single off his first official LP Thank Me Later being nothing short of brilliant felt like such a given, most of us had basically already engraved a BANGER OF (at least the first half of) THE YEAR award in it’s honor. The track was just bound to be greater than anything Drake had ever recorded (as well as have the power to part seas and put an end to world hunger), right?
Well, after finally getting to hear the much-anticipated “Over”…let’s just say our loftier-than-lofty expectations have been grounded some.
To put it simply, “Over”, while a perfectly serviceable street single/ album opener, is far from the “Successful” or “Best I Ever Had”-bester we prematurely predestined it to be, it’s verses finding Drizzy and co-producer Boi-1da basically recycling the breathless, top-of-the-mountain boasts (“Making sure the Young Money ship is never sinking/ Bout to set it off in this bitch–Jada Pinkett”) and militaristic drum-laced, dark epic knock of “Forever” to a lesser, larger-than-life effect.
Yeah, a couple lyrical winners do emerge (Our favorite: “Can you see me, can you see me?/ Get your Visine on”), but as a whole, the braggadocio-focused verses leave us cold, wishing that Drake would’ve taken the time to better flesh out his current place in the game with the intimate, “Behind The Music”-like personal depth he’s previously drawn so much acclaim for. If not that, at least flavor the sections with those silken, melodic vocal turns he handles so mesmerizingly.
Drake crams both of these practices into “Over”’s hook, and because of that, it easily ends up the track’s “saving grace” moment. Here, with ’70’s soul-sampled strings building to a gloriously dramatic peak behind him, Drake dons his semi-crooner hat and hits the “Pause” button on his sudden superstar life mid-celebration to briefly ruminate on his position.
“I know way too many people here right now/ That I didn’t know last year/ Who the fuck are y’all?”, he sing-growls, “I swear it feels like the last few nights we been everywhere and back/ But, I just can’t remember it all/ What am I doing?”. Then, in only a half-a-breath’s time, he uncovers the answer (“Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m doing me”), hits the “Play” button and proceeds with living the dream.
Now that’s the magic we’re talking about, Drake; too bad you couldn’t have figured out a way to stretch it’s luster across the entire track.
We’ll be saving that award for when you truly deserve it, thank you.

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