It’s been eleven years since Aaliyah passed away. Why are we hearing new music from her now?
Well, because current “it” rapper/singer Drake (last seen proclaiming himself the first successful singer/rapper, as if The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill never existed) has what our webmistress C proclaims to be a “single black female obsession” with the late singer. I don’t know much about said obsession-other than Drake sampling Aaliyah’s “At Your Best” on a song from his debut full-length Thank Me Later (forgive me for being too lazy to look up which track.)
At any rate, I don’t know whether “Enough Said” is a one-off track or if it’s part of a bigger project dedicated to the memory of Aaliyah. Production-wise, it’s interesting to note that the spare production style actually fits Aaliyah’s voice to a tee. Had she lived, I could see her doing something fairly edgy and pulling it off well…an Aaliyah/XX (who covered her “Hot Like Fire”) collabo would’ve been pretty dope. I could do without Drake’s rap in the middle (is it me, or does he seem to be trying too hard for street cred?) but otherwise, the song is perfectly fine, although not a knockout on par with “Try Again” or “Rock The Boat.”
It’s certainly not the desecration of her memory that people on the internet are saying, but it also sounds pretty unnecessary, other than proving that Aaliyah would probably still be a relevant artist had she lived. What do you think?
8 comments
GG says:
Aug 6, 2012
The reason why I was initially perturbed is because I thought it was a Drake single doing some sort of crazy Aaliyah mash. I didn’t know it was actually an Aaliyah track that Drake was guesting on.
I’m not bothered any longer. However, I’m not so sure that this is even worth releasing as the (1st?) posthumous Aaliyah release. Shouldn’t it have been a bigger song?
And Drake just bores me to death.
Tyler says:
Aug 6, 2012
I think it’s also worth noting that the selection of someone who has no actual connection to Aaliyah suggests that this is an attempt by some to take advantage of both Aaliyah and Drake’s popularity. Drake may be well-intentioned, but his sense of entitlement to her legacy is incredibly inappropriate and creepy. It’s not unique in that sense (a lot of dead artists are treated this way), but Drake’s specific lack of any talent at all, his youth, his relatively controversial person makes this all seem strange in a way that other similar moves do not.
That said, I generally don’t care at all for posthumous albums because of the creep/exploitation factor.
blerd says:
Aug 6, 2012
I think you could probably say that about posthumous albums in general.
I do find it so odd that Drake is obsessed with Aaliyah, to an extent…makes me suspect that there are some political machinations behind this. But I’m a cynic.
I wouldn’t say he’s untalented–he’s pretty good at what he does. Although not as good as he thinks he is.
John says:
Aug 6, 2012
Blackground is on board with this, so it feels buzz track-ish instead of lead single-ish. I love the production with her vocals, but while Drake’s flow is on point, it seems out of place. He’s even got a tattoo of her on his back, so maybe he’s playing out a schoolboy crush on a much larger scale.
Trey Stone says:
Aug 6, 2012
any of you guys think Drake’s main producer 40’s beats are typically really sleepy? i liked what he did on Alicia Keys’s “Un-Thinkable” and more recently Usher’s “What Happened to U” but otherwise, almost always feel like something’s missing
Trey Stone says:
Aug 6, 2012
just thought of that since he did the track and i had pretty much the same reaction as usual
blerd says:
Aug 6, 2012
I actually like 40’s production work more than I like Drake’s rapping or singing.
blerd says:
Aug 6, 2012
That’s more than a schoolboy crush. It’s stalker-esque.