More so than any weekend since If You're Reading This It's Too Late dropped, the last few days have belonged to Drake. Between premiering his "Energy" video, debuting his and OVO's Beats 1 radio show, sharing three new features/remixes and hinting at his new album's release date, the 6 God had us on high alert all weekend. Whether or not Views From The 6 arrives on September 24th, as the OVO website seemed to suggest yesterday, it's been rumored to be a 2015 release ever since "0-100" dropped.
Drizzy definitely played it a little safe on IYRTITL, sticking with his OVO stable of producers and collaborators for the most part, and keeping the sound consistent and free from any "Hold On, We're Going Home"-style aberrations. Although Nothing Was The Same was also pretty focused-sounding and free of big collabs, as far as major label rap albums go (and outside of its Jay Z feature), we're venturing a guess that VFT6 will be a bit more daring, what with a rumored Beyoncé collab and Drizzy ascending to a new level of stardom between releases.
Here are five things we'd like to see on the album.
The Beyoncé collab "Can I" is either scrapped or totally reinvented
Back in May, a Drake/Beyoncé collab called "Can I" leaked onto the web, and it was either unfinished or unfit for human ears, because many people seemed let down. Of course, the prospect of two of the game's biggest stars teaming up always leaves room for disappointment, but this one seemed particularly underwhelming. After all, Beyoncé contributed all of three words to the song ("Can I? ... Baby").
This could obviously be retooled for the final cut with additional lyrics and/or production, but the leaked rough cut might be enough to make perfectionist Drizzy entirely leave it behind. Odds are, if we even do end up hearing it on VFT6, it'll sound completely different, and it'll be better that way.
A King Louie feature
Was Louie's OVO tattoo all for naught? Last December, the Chicago MuBu Gang repper revealed new OVO owl and 6 God ink, and despite rumors of a deal, hasn't said anything about a connection with OVO that extends beyond artwork on his body. For one, it'd be pretty disappointing if his ink job was preemptive and the deal fell through-- for another, OVO would be missing out on an underrated spitter.
His highest-profile feature to date came on Yeezus' "Send It Up," and outside of being my personal favorite on the album, the song also has a great verse from King L (coincidentally, he drops the line "Tattoos is how they break the news" in it). It's hard to imagine how he'd fit into a Drizzy track, but it'd be a thrilling, rather unexpected thing to hear.
Bring some other producers into the fold
Most rappers would pull a Christ Bearer to have Noah "40" Shebib and Boi-1da in their corner, so exploring other production routes may seem preposterous and ungrateful for Drake at this moment. However, Drake no doubt knows that at least some form of consistent artistry is based on reinvention, and if anyone in hip hop would be willing to step out from behind that seemingly bulletproof wall of sound, it's him.
We can still expect to see 40's name as executive producer, and the usual suspects in the credits (Vinylz, Syk Sense, Mike Zombie, etc), but it'd be exciting to see Drake get some other names into the mix. Many will forget that guys like TM88, !llmind, Jake One and Hudson Mohawke contributed to Drizzy's last two projects, and that's mostly because their names were wedged alongside three or four others on individual song credits. Perhaps bringing in some more ATL talent, or names from the leftfield electronic world (no EDM, please), is in the cards for the 6 God this time around.
International features
It's time for Drake to make good on all of his globetrotting tastes. This past weekend, during which he collaborated with Nigerian and British artists, was a good start, but we need at least a feature apiece from Skepta and Popcaan on this album for Drake to prove he's not just the world's premier international hypebeast.
Having already contributed some spoken word to Skepta's "SHUTDOWN" and appeared in a recent Popcaan video, Drizzy's all but guaranteed these guys spots on his album, but we all know a verse and/or hook are much more capable of popularizing an artist than a crafty cosign. Truss mi daddy, we'll hear at least one of these dudes on the album.
A Willow Smith spot that makes people reconsider their opinions of her and Jaden
The Smith kids are routinely lambasted for their actions in the media, whether it be the way they dress or their opinions on the spiritual powers of certain crystals. Lately, they've been inching their respective needles of public opinion towards more positive territory with rapidly-improving music, and recent cosigns from Drake seem to solidify that.
Drake already hinted that Willow appears on VFT6, so now all we can hope is that this doesn't end up in more ridicule for her. Her strongest songs have shown glimpses of Erykah Badu-style greatness, and getting in the studio with Drake might be all she needs to give us the 2015 version of his favorite Badu chorus.