I’m sure 40 oversees everything Drake puts out but we all know Drake has a busy great life.

He’s gambling in some of the best resorts on Earth
Getting matching nails with Lil Yachty
DMing some of our favorite IG models to use them for song material.

If you check the credits, he’s been way less involved compared to Drake’s 09-2016 run.

FATD literally only has 6 40 production credits out of 23 songs smh

Drake letting bums like Lil Yachty influence him. Atleast Kanye picks actual good artists to bite.
BNYX ain’t no Boi-1da. F*** OZ

The further 40 gets from his music, the worse it’s gotten on average

True, but the hunger is clearly not there anymore for Drake. Plus he doesn't have much things to talk about it seems from him

Change it to 808's/Weeknd influence and you got yourself a hit thread

40 is synonymous with the old drake sound

can’t blame the guy for laying low and taking care of his health

Not too much on BNYX

That’s lowkey a part of it too lol bro has a whole label of talented artists but only collabs with em once a year

40 is missed but the songwriting itself has taken such a huge hit.

Songs like Fire & Desire, Come Thru, Cameras, Don’t Matter To Me, Shot For Me, Furthest Thing, Race My Mind are so well structured and written as songs

With some exceptions (imo Virginia Beach, Tried Our Best, Another Late Night) it feels like he’s just not interested in solid robust songs anymore.

• Get a cool beat

• find some catchy, sweet, fire melodies

• write some clever lines, puns, wordplay, IG caption bars

• repeat amorphously with 0 structure or direction until the song either ends or there is an outro.

His ear for melody and locking in goat hooks used to be impeccable and I feel he’s swapped it for whatever tf he’s doing now. Love a lot of FATD songs still but yeah idk if it’s solely a 40 issue

40 has severe MS and it’s a progressive illness. He has literally lost years of his life due to spending the early 2010s locked into late night studio sessions, mixing, touring with Drake, and most importantly, not having consistent medical treatment

he talks about it in certain interviews

40 just isn’t in the same position to be as involved in Drake’s albums anymore

and I don’t even think you’re wrong, I truly believe that 40’s influence on Drake is a major reason why Drake could make albums like So Far Gone, Take Care, and Nothing Was The Same

he is at least 30-45% of why Early Drake was such a special artist to listen to

but this doesn’t mean that FATD is a bad album
it’s just not the Same

I understand that from the Perspective of a Thank Me Later fan, most of the concepts, lyrics, and production styles we got on For All The Dogs seem like a completely different guy

Yeah the old Drake / OVO sound is synonymous with 40's tangible impact on the beats side, not just the engineering / exec producing side

But I think as Drake's career has progressed, that sound was associated with him being viewed as soft and emo. It's no coincidence that since Take Care, he's actively gone away with each album that sound, and has tried very hard to disassociate himself from that soft / emo / dark reputation,

which sucks because SFG and Take Care are IMO two of his 5 best albums and 40's beats on those are a real reason why that's case.

Also Drake had better bars back then

definitely true for me

his albums sound much cornier with 40’s influence less apparent

I miss the T-Minus production

I miss the old Drake

I think Drake's talent is such that he can sound really good to really great on any production,

But his ability to tell the stories that he wants to tell in the fashion that he wants to, will never be better than when he and 40 are locked in, and flipping a 90's R&B sample like Weston Road Flows, The Calm, OMDB, Marvin's Room, The Resistance, etc.

2nd half of Drew A Picasso is the best part of the album for a reason.

It’s a combination of things, several factors I’ve noticed contributing to his decline:

1. Lack of heavy involvement from 40, and even his other producers like Boi-1da/Vinylz. He’s recruited newer producers such as BNYX, OZ, and Yachty which don’t stand out as much compared to ones I listed in the first sentence

2. His embracement of his “Thugged out” image, while not as detrimental to the quality of music, it led him to gradually drift from his original person that drew some people in the first place. In addition, his lack of growth subject matter wise isn’t helping either.

3. While he showed improvements in technical rapping and wordplay, his flow got stale and now it’s coming off like he’s reading a passage of text. Explains why his bars don’t jump out and honestly he’s coming off as a try hard.

4. Working with the same old features like 21, Thug, Baby, etc. to the point it’s contributing to his repetitive sound. I understand he needs to incorporate certain features to maintain commercial success, but man you need to switch it up and perhaps bring in an old legend into your project. One thing I’ll give him credit for with FATD is his willingness to somewhat switch it up features wise.

I agree. And Drakes hunger is different. He’s super wealthy now. On So Far Gone.. his goal was to be successful. Once you’ve reached that how can an artist make that tryna make it to the top music again?

If every album was just straight 40 production, the narrative would be he sounds repetitive. It’s great we seeing a variety of different producers on these last 4 projects.

Kind of facts, but also this album is the closest we’ve got to a real 40 sound since NWTS

What about the songwriting and structure on Flights Booked, Overdrive, Liability, Tie That Binds, A Keeper?

He lacks zeal.. at least in the sort of way that artists like Kendrick and Beyonce have.. it’s not necessarily the ambition for wealth/success that drives them, but they’re committed to the craft itself.. this reverence causes an intensity that they showcase creatively.. Drake lacks the zeal and the VISION. He has all the tools/resources and creativity to create magic on a huge scale, but he’s shooting below his potential and ppl are getting antsy

He did with HNVM and people didnt get it.

100% agree

nah