Title. Can we do away with this criticism or could someone help me understand what this even means? It’s almost as lazy as “this all sounds the same”

This is obviously in reference to one of the many critiques of For All The Dogs. What does it mean to “want the old Drake back”? Do people really want him to rap like he did in 2011-2015 and if so, in what way? What do they want him to rap about? Would it even still feel organic?

This same thing could be applied to other artists like Kanye West and for both Drake and Kanye, they tap back into their signature styles whether it be instrumentals, flows or subject matter and it never seems like enough for people. It seems more like they’re saying “I liked Drake when he wasn’t as big and now that he is, NOTHING he does will feel organic.” and idk if that could be attributed to mfs just wanting to be contrarian or whatever but it just sounds like you’re better off NEVER listening to an artist again beyond a certain point of success.

All The Parties 2nd half sounds like an updated take on his vintage style of the reversed instrumental and no drums, plus the subject matter feels like older Drake. Song is my favorite off the project.

She says they missed the old Drake, girl, don't tempt me

Hov with the wisdom

I want old Wayne back

If I don’t like an album I just don’t listen to it

All that complaining and s*** is dumb after a while

Just answer the question man

I agree with this.

Basically meaning back when they made good music.

Was the music better or was it just fresher at the time? How do you differentiate the two?

“But it sounds like you’re better off NEVER listening to an artist beyond a certain point of success”

I think there’s actual genuine truth to this. You can’t recreate the hunger and some artists truly lose the plot once they get bigger

I genuinely think for most artists there’s an inverse relationship (even if small) between their popularity and the quality of the music

Just a critique that don't really mean much.

I guess it could mean I want the same quality as their older music, but most times people say it they actually mean how their older music sounds. People were saying they wanted old ye back when he made 808s, MBDTF and Yeezus.

But just like u said, the artist can go back to that sound and it goes unnoticed.

Like champagne poetry. race my mind or you only live twice are that take care/nwts sound with a modern take on it

The truth is they're just being Nostalgic on how their older music made them feel at the time

Yeah I feel this. That’s what it seems like to me and it’s fair to feel that way, but it seems like a lousy critique of a newer body of work, idk.. and I honestly like this project more than Her Loss and CLB.

@op loves the drakes!!!!

I don’t really agree with the statement of wanting old artists back but artists generally tend to dip in quality during the latter half of their careers.

Mostly due to being uninspired or their lack of motivation when it comes to the quality of their music.

Drake along with other artists run out of stories from their past to tell and sometimes fail to keep it interesting due to their lifestyles being extremely disconnected from ours or them spending countless weeks/months on the road and not fully able to hone in on a project. It's like that saying you have a lifetime to make your first album and six months for the debut or whatever. I think when people say they miss the old "__" it's really in relation to a time where that was more hungry with much more to prove

This is also exactly what I feel like it is. A bunch of people holding onto nostalgia.. I feel it’s impossible for an artist to just “go back to the old them” and have it feel organic.

I do but not as much as I love Mrs. Knx

It sucks because he's capable of delivering some great stuff considering he drops s*** like 8AM in Charlotte, Tried our best, and the on the radar freestyle which is all great. I think Drake just needs an executive producer like a Quincy Jones to help him put together his albums and structure his songs better

In my opinion there are like 3 distinct inflection points in an artists career where things change

There’s the initial push of hype that gets them bubbling in whatever scene they are in. They will likely lean into whatever sound or trend started to get them some traction. Before they were making music for them but now they have to shift and make it for an audience. They lose a little bit of themselves here

Then there’s the explosion of hype and reaching mainstream or their peak popularity. They will likely lean into more traditional sounding music or “water down” their music for the masses. Before they were making music for their fans and still themselves but now they are making music for everyone. Here is where the artists can lose A LOT of what made the original fans gravitate in the first place

Then there’s the comedown where you fall back to earth and reach “stable” level of popularity you will maintain potentially forever. Here you have two paths generally, either continue chasing the mainstream music or go back to your roots and find yourself and make interesting music

I think artists music changes drastically at these stages. Obviously nothing is written in stone and every career is different but this is just generalization

This definitely a super valid criticism and I’d love to see this too. Getting some premium outside ears to help produce songs.

No idgaf about his question

I miss the old Mitch !!!

I miss the old STUFF fr

Before u switched up on me we coulda been something

I want the old bladee back <\2

“Niggas want my old s*** buy my old albums”