// NC //'s TOP ALBUMS

“I'll start with my opinion. Loved it. It's a cover-to-cover album. On the whole, the production suits Drake well, his hooks are crack-rock addicting, and lyrically every track requires a second and third listen. It doesn't disappoint me, just makes me even more excited for his second LP and his evolution as an artist. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I don't think you can compare Thank Me Later with So Far Gone. A lot of people are saying So Far Gone was better, but I don't think you can legitimately compare the two. So Far Gone was a long-developed, free mixtape. There aren't numbers an artist is expected to hit for a downloaded mixtape (yet). The goal of the tape was to create a real piece of art, and hopefully have word spread beyond it. Albums are a different story. Even though the music world has changed, albums are still measured by first week sales. That's what Universal is looking at, that's what the industry is looking at. So it's got to put up those early numbers, and that means making artistic decisions to support that. It's one album for the entire, segmented music market. Backpackers want him back rhyming with Phonte, DJs wonder where the bangers are, and 13 year olds are asking their moms who Aaliyah was. Unfortunately, 64 bar freestyles don't sell albums (ask Slaughterhouse) and neither do raw emotional tracks like Lust for Life or The Calm. It is what is; apples and oranges. A better measure of an album is how well the MC straddles that line; how he tells his story, makes a piece of art, and still makes sure Universal will have some money to blow. You with me?”