What a Time to Be Alive has finally resonated on our ears. The ten-song effort is a testament to many things: the prominence of the dark, druggy, Atlanta trap sound; Future's work ethic; Drake's diversity. The album is one of the more surprising releases in recent history, and recent history has almost exclusively boasted albums that were (at least trying to be) a surprise.
Future and Drake have very different styles, but it works out together. Most will agree that the record has more of a Future sound to it, and they're correct. Drake told Rolling Stone, "I went to Atlanta for six days a couple weeks ago with the hopes of doing some songs with Future, and when you get around Future, it’s like a vortex. That guy can outwork anybody right now […] It’s tough to see someone do four, five songs in one night and not try to match it."
We're happy Drake tried to match it, and now we have an album by two of 2015's hottest artists. Naturally, we had to pin them against each other, though. Who had the better verse? Let's discuss.
Drake & Future - Digital Dash
Over a tough Metro Boomin beat, Future kicks off the tape with the type of banter you'd expect. "My dope in the bushes, I know how to cook it," he quasi-mumbles as to gather his bearings. Things really get going right around the time when the beat switches, and he unleashes some of his finer lines of the verse: "I'm smokin' that pack on muddy / Taliban on these hoes / Give a Xan to these hoes / Got em playing with they nose / I sleep on the beach off the avenue / I came to your city with revenue / I put in work it was evident."
Drake patiently waits his turn, taking 2:32 for him to hop in with the same line Future hit us with, "These bitches be naggin' the kid." Drizzy never fully catches the flow, stumbling with "And we just keep servin' and servin' again and again and again and again," early on before ending with, "And I got the, I got the, I got the, I got the, I..." It leaves us wanting a little more.
Winner: Future
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Big Rings
Here's one of those songs that will take over the club completely for the next few months, thanks to a chorus that anyone can sing along to after a listen or two. It's so catchy that it's almost annoying...or maybe it is if you aren't huge on Drake.
As repetitive as the chorus sounds, the two rappers don't really spit many bars to break it up. Drake addresses the haters before Future brags about his lean intake ("I'm drinkin' lean, they thought I died") and his crew ("I run with kidnappers, I'm talkin' 'bout kidnappers / I'm talkin' 'bout murderin' niggas, I'm talkin' 'bout carjackers"). The Metro Boomin beat seems a little more at home for Future, and for that he gets the W again on "Big Rings."
Winner: Future
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Live From the Gutter
After a couple slower tracks, song #3 gives us a mid-tempo bounce. It's a more Drake-sounding song than the prior two, and he really shows up on it. He'll have you singin' "yeah, yeah" before thinking a little deeper at lines like, "On the Billboards, all we do is pop shit / Soon as that night fall, that's when we lock in," which is a nod both to his mainstream success and the method in which Future and him made this tape.
Future comes correct too, at the beginning, and holds down the verse, no doubt. However, Drizzy flows like he's done it a million times on this one, and he's gettin' the W for that.
Winner: Drake
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Diamonds Dancing
After a few tracks sound exactly like what you'd expect from a Drake/Future collab made in Atlanta, "Diamonds Dancing" breaks the mold. With Metro Boomin collaborating with Frank Dukes and Allen Ritter for a beat that could stand on its own two, both artists showcase their rap/singing combos, and even duet a little on the chorus.
Let's be honest, neither artist really unleashed a wicked-sick verse on "Diamonds Dancing." There just isn't a whole lot of rap going down on the track, but between the sleezy R&B verses and rhymes that we did get, we're giving this one to Future.
Winner: Future
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Scholarships
Drake and Future combined in a way much like Kanye and Jay Z did with Watch The Throne: they came together to boast. On "Scholarships," Future hits us with these brags:
"I count this money up, I'm already rich"
"I come out the gutter, I really made it"
"I got a bitch located in every city"
"Spent like seven hundred thousand on both of the Bentleys"
Then Drake hits us with...
"I'm ballin' outta control, keep on receiving the scholarships"
"And I rock Kentucky blue on these hoes / Drafted, I'm gettin' chose by these hoes"
"we ain't change, we ain't change"
Both MCs do their thing, but once again it feels like a Future track with a Drake feature. Future Hendrix, hold this W.
Winner: Future
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Plastic Bag
"Plastic Bag" is a little more balanced in terms of collaborative energy. With a lush R&B soundscape, we've heard both Drizzy and Future crush tracks like this time and time again.
This one is for the strippers, and even though Drake is probably the type of guy to whisper, "you're better than this" in a stripper's ear while he's getting a lap dance, he flows pretty nice on the joint. "I be in the club with the bands like I got the keyboard and the drums with me," he boasts over the Neenyo beat.
Future does his thing too, but this one belongs to Drizzy.
Winner: Drake
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - I'm the Plug
It took six songs for the Six God to really show up with a hot flow on the tape. Not to knock the other tracks, but the flows just aren't urgent, especially on Drake's side of things. On "I'm the Plug," he comes correct, spitting double-time on the mid-tempo joint to really make you turn your head and listen to what the boy has to say.
Lines like, "Y'all should have seen this shit coming in May / We doing 300 records a day / Who really think they can get in the way?" can completely silence the haters and anyone who may have been #TeamMeek a month ago. Drake won then, and he wins again.
Winner: Drake
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Change Locations
For most of the album, Drake puts his emotions to the side to boast about money, ladies and party habits. On "Change Locations," he switches it up, and gives us the good-guy Drake we're used to, opening up with "two in the morning my mind is on you / four in the morning it still hasn't moved," while Future is busy bragging about "60 naked bitches." Are these two at the same party?
Both rappers come correct, but when you waste bars on "I like that money is money is piling / I see that money just piling / I see it's piling and piling and piling / And piling and piling and piling," it's going to be hard to take home the win.
Winner: Drake
Your Vote:
Drake & Future - Jumpman
"Jumpman" is a pretty serious title for a rapper who has his own official pairs of J's. The last collaborative track on What a Time, the track showcases yet again how Future's style rubbed off on Drake throughout the recording process. Drake caught Future's, let's just call it a cough, and drops the funny quip: "(cough cough cough) I think I need some Robitussin."
Future comes with his typical flow, mentioning drugs by name and interjecting a little humor along the way ("Chicken wings and fries we don't go on dates"). This was a really tough one to call, but it's going to Future.
Winner: Future
Your Vote: