Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s new twenty-one track rap album “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” came out on February 14. The album was highly anticipated, and many wondered if these new songs would make their way onto fans’ playlists. 

Before listening, I was skeptical about the new work. Both the unknown featured artist and Drake’s ongoing feud with Kendrick Lamar made me weary. While I enjoy Drake’s music and he is a household name, PARTYNEXTDOOR is a lesser-known artist with whom I wasn’t very familiar. Over the past year, Drake has been involved in a highly publicized feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar, so I was curious to see if any of the songs would be related to that. 

After listening to the album, I felt somewhat underwhelmed. I believe PARTYNEXTDOOR brought down my overall impression of the album, as his lines were very repetitive and did not add much to the songs. His lyrics primarily focused on women, and it seemed that every part he sang conveyed the same basic message. None of his lyrics felt heartfelt or meaningful, and they were largely superficial and centered around romantic relationships with women. On the other hand, most of Drake’s contributions to the songs were good because they showed a little bit more lyrical depth, and some of the songs were really catchy, even if the lyrics themselves were not necessarily the strongest. 

Although I feel that most of the album was nothing special, there were a few songs that kind of switched up Drake’s usual vibe, such as “MEET YOUR PADRE.” The majority of this song was in Spanish, providing an interesting twist on the album. Recently, “NOKIA” has gained popularity on social media due to its catchy lyrics and upbeat rhythm. My personal favorite is “RAINING IN HOUSTON.” This song showed an interesting outlook on relationship challenges and the complexities of balancing friendships with a clingy girlfriend.

Overall, I would rate this album a score of 6.5/10 because it did not live up to the standards set by Drake’s other albums. Most of the songs from “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” lacked sincere lyrics but some of the songs were fun to listen to and are good for a base-level listening experience.