by Kyle Kilroy

Is the Collaborative Album Indicative of a New Era in Hip Hop?

I hope not. Allow me to preface this article by saying that What a Time to Be Alive does have redeeming qualities. A couple of the songs, including Jumpman and Diamonds Dancing, are decent songs. However, both songs typify party music more than something I would to listen to back to back. Beyond that, WATTBA is a compilation of forgettable, repetitive songs.

When Drake and Future announced their joint album it was met with well-deserved buzz. Pundits predicted that first week sales would propel the album into Gold Album status, selling at least 500,000 units. The numbers painted an entirely different picture. Approximately 334,000 units were sold in the first week, well shy of expectations. By the second week things had turned bleak. Sales plummeted 81%, coming in at a measly 65,000 records. I attribute this sharp drop-off to a variety of factors, the major one being the lack of effort Drake and Future put into the project. Essentially it sounds like they put some beats together in the garage of one of their mansions.

A clear example of this blasé production attitude can be seen in the album art. Quickly search “Shutterstock Diamonds”, then “Shutterstock Color Drop in Water”. It is glaringly obvious that Future has used these two Shutterstock images as the covers for his last two albums. The cost for using both images? $29.00. Package deal. While Future is not the most original artist, I was disappointed that Drake allowed this image to adorn the cover of WATTBA. The artwork on the front cover often says a great deal about the personality of the work within. This album, unfortunately, is no different.

Image courtesy of eonline.com

Drake and Future don’t give fans many reasons to buy this album. Purchase one song and you’ve pretty much heard all that the album has to offer. Each song blends into the next, making the song titles impossible to remember, let alone words to individual tracks. The base-driven beats seem constantly recycled, resulting in the lazy style of rap that has become quintessential for modern culture. For example, the beat for Jumpman sounds almost identical to the next track, Jersey. Drake comes in with some vocals and a verse, and then Future mumbles some meaningless words. There, you have a song. And another, and another. By teaming up on nearly every song Drake and Future stripped the album of their unique fingerprints. What a Time to Be Alive contained nothing special. It lacked the creativity that audiences have enjoyed from Drake, and to a lesser extent Future. For the sake of rap I hope that WATTBA does not usher in a new culture dominated by collaboration albums. For all intents and purposes, these albums offer nothing but an easy way out. Rappers can put less effort into their product and churn out repetitive, boring songs. Not only would this hurt rap sales, it would also become increasingly frustrating for consumers.

Side note: It has been rumored that J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar are contemplating doing a collaboration album. I have more respect for both artists, so hopefully they can alter my opinion of collab albums.