2015 was a great year for the former Degrassi star turned R&B singer, Drake. Coming off of the heated rap battle with Meek Mill and the success of his mixtapes, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What a Time To Be Alive, fans were very excited for the release of his fourth studio album, Views.

However, reactions were mixed upon release. In Views, Drake returns to his old style of music which is solely melodic R&B but this time he draws inspiration from Caribbean music and old school hip-hop/R&B. This musical blend can be seen in tracks such as “Controlla” where he sampled Jamaican artist Beenie Man’s 1995 song “Tear Off Mi Garment.” He also sampled from hip-hop and R&B legends. Mary J. Blige’s 1994 song “Mary’s Joint” can be heard in the background of “Weston Road Flows.” Hip-hop legend DMX also makes a cameo in the album. DMX’s hit 1999 single “What These B*tches Want” is sampled in the beginning of “U With Me.”

There are drawbacks for Drake going back to his roots. One of which is that in his previous mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake established himself as hardcore, as if he’s a force to be reckoned with. His summer of 2015 diss track singles about Meek Mill, “Charged Up” and “Back to Back” further solidified Drake’s sense of toughness as these tracks were able to put a stain in Meek’s reputation. After that win against Meek Mill, in fall of 2015 Drake worked with the Atlanta-base rapper, Future, for their first collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive. This mixtape gave us upbeat party songs such as “Jumpman” and “Big Rings.” It seems as if his collaborative mixtape is a continuation of his solo mixtape. Drake could have used Views as a platform to carry this trend out but he failed to do so which left Views as a missed opportunity. Another problem is that Drake alienated his new fans that he picked up during his 2015 run. These new fans saw Drake as a heavyweight persona but Views contradicted that image. As consolation however, Drake gave them tracks such as “Pop Style,” “Hype,” and “Grammy.”

On the other hand, Drake going back to his old style can be a positive thing. It’s good for the fans that wanted more soulful singing and talking about ex girlfriends, which will remind them of his 2011 album, Take Care. However, compared to the Take Care album, Views is lyrically inferior. In this album Drake delivers some subpar and forgettable lyrics. Lyrics such as “Got so many chains they call me Chaining Tatum,” from “Pop Style” are not impressive. This goofy pun is one of many peppered all over this album and it is quotable in a bad way. Drake may have allegedly used ghost writers for his previous music projects but at least they were better. If he did use ghost writers for this album then he should get new ones. This may be seen as a missed opportunity for Drake due to the difference between this and the previous album, but the quality of lyrics overall was subpar with the expectations.