What A Time To Be Alive: A Diamond or a Dud?

As you all know (unless you’ve been living under a rock) Future and Drake’s much-anticipated collaborative mixtape, What A Time To Be Alive, dropped Sunday night on iTunes. Prior to the release, a Drake and Future collaboration was only speculation and some just wrote it off as just a rumor. Despite uncertainty, the possibility of the two working together and Future’s banger, “Where Ya At” featuring Drake dominating the airwaves, fueled fan curiosity and excitement about what a collaborative project from both artists would be like. Eventually, it was confirmed that a joint-tape was real and in the works and on Sunday night we were blessed with 11 tracks. With Future fresh off the success of Dirty Sprite 2, Drake announcing the upcoming release of his new album, Views From the 6, and recent controversies surrounding both artists’ personal relationships, the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect.

With production by most notably Metro Boomin, What A Time to Be Alive definitely gave the streets something to talk about. Each rapper brought their unique styles in helping to create a project that is undeniably worth a listen. Trap music artist, Future brings his gritty, auto-tune sound while 6 God, Drake brings his both emotional yet hard-hitting boastful lyrics, a sound that has undisputedly dominated the summer. Future shines on songs like “Live From the Gutter” and “Jersey” and raps about wealth, women, and codeine. We also get a chance hear classic Drake on 30 for 30 Freestyle, a hookless track comprised of straight verses and effortless bars which seemingly gives the album more lyrical leverage. Songs like “Diamonds Dancing”, “I’m the Plug”, and “Jumpman” are liable to be blasted from every speaker in the clubs. Future and Drake together proves to be a deadly combination. This Free Bandz/OVO Sound definitely brought some heat for the beginning of fall and attracted tons of media attention.

Future and Drake’s issues with other artists in the industry may have also brought more attention to their latest project. With Future’s recent not-so-amicable split from his ex-fiancée Ciara, and Drake’s infamous beef with Meek Mill over ghostwriter allegations, listeners were anxious to see if either of them would address their “foes” in their music.

Drake does not hold back and takes a few shots at Meek with lines like “Whole time I was ready/ They was like hold up wait a minute, I was like nah n***a let’s get it” in “I’m the Plug” and “I mean, I say hats off for a solid effort, but we didn’t flinch for a second” in “30 for 30 Freestyle.” Drake also sparked controversy when he rapped, “This for my dogs that go Karrueche with the chopsticks.” Of course this line further antagonized Drake’s ongoing beef with Chris Brown. As for Future it is unclear (to me at least) if and when he specifically addressed Ciara. However, he continues to rap about the fast life and sleeping with a lot of women, which may serve as a slight diss to Ci-Ci. There are also other things that remain uncertain throughout the album…like who is Drake talking about in the “Diamonds Dancing” outro? Could it be Rihanna? Or could it be Nicki Minaj? Is there anything that Future said that could have been aimed at Meek? This mixtape obviously brings about a number of questions that can only be left to listeners’ interpretation.

What A Time to Be Alive is evidently resonating with fans, as most of my Twitter timeline is filled with people tweeting lyrics and memes of Drake and Future in LeBron and D Wade jerseys. Some have already used lyrics from the tape as captions for Instagram posts. Even Toronto councilman, Norm Kelly, tweeted “Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman.” It seems like hip-hop fans’ reactions were overall positive and many were pleased with two of 2015’s hottest rappers coming together.

While many praised this collaborative effort, there were also quite a number of people who were disappointed. For some, the tape just did not meet expectation and a few fans felt Drake fell flat and was overpowered by Future. While I agree that the majority of the mixtape was comprised of Future’s sound, I do not feel that Future outshined Drake in the slightest. Drake has a history of owning every song he features on and this time was no different. Even if it seemed as if Future had more to contribute on certain tracks, Drake provides quotable lines and hooks that makes the songs catchy and memorable. Personally, I think that both artists delivered. As for the project as a whole, although I did not expect it to be a lyrical masterpiece, I did expect it to be perfect for the turn up and I felt that it was successful in that sense. I’ve probably hit every new dance craze to at least half of the songs so for me, What A Time To Be Alive definitely met my expectations. Regardless of what anyone thought, this mixtape was undoubtedly influential in hip-hop this week. But what do you think? Did it live up to the hype? Was it a diamond or a dud?