$ome $exy $ongs 4 U: A Case for the Status Quo

"$ome $exy $ongs 4 U", the Valentine's Day release from Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR, is a sleek exponent of the OVO Sound. However, it suffers from a sense of stasis, hoping the listener will impose substance beyond its reach.

NEARLY a year on from The Beef to End All Beefs, hip-hop has begun reflecting on its future. Beyond the beef itself, beyond the blows exchanged and its cultural ripple effects, the game has taken this event to examine the last fifteen years of mainstream output. The question isn't who won the battle or even the Culture - it's widely recognized that Kendrick Lamar came out on top. The question has moved on to whether the genre should re-root itself in regionalism and lyrical excellence, and most important to some, the organic validation that thrusts an artist to commercial success. Critics within the Hip-Hop game have argued for the last decade the output has become concerned with mass appeal, that the music released exists to be widely digestible, and the culture that creates it too accessible; unique sounds that may have at one time at least reached the ear of the public, risk being snuffed out in favor of Pop status. Can a rapper’s work be both the seasoning and the meal? Can the Culture decide what's substantive and what isn't before the labels do?

Given these questions are being rolled around, the answer currently leans toward prioritizing the organic, as it can determine what is art and what is sugar, allowing both to have their moment to shine.

Drake, teaming up with labelmate PARTYNEXTDOOR, has delivered a polished album, brimming with luxurious production that exemplifies the OVO Sound. It’s a nocturnal, atmospheric style, drenched in reverb and layered synths, with warm basslines that define Toronto's global export. This sound has proven successful, appealing across genres and regions without needing to stand out.

However, the case this album makes undermines Drake's earlier appraisal of hip-hop. When he came onto the scene, he remade what a Hip-Hop artist can be, uniquely blending R&B and Rap, not only through a rapper being able to sing on his own, but allowing for the lyrics to include R&B's vulnerability and honesty while reaching for lyrical distinction. It wasn't widely acceptable, but what he presented hadn't achieved success before to the level he obtained. And that was the point: lyrics that gave a new voice, and a Hip-Hop that could fill all corners moved the genre forward. Where his early work challenged hip-hop’s conventions, "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" instead asserts that the genre no longer needs pushing—just perfecting. This album is not just a product of the mainstream—it’s a defense of it. It argues that polish and broad accessibility matter more than reinvention.

This album, though enjoyable in parts, does none of that. Its sound, themes and approach are stuck in stasis. Lyrically, it becomes pedestrian; The same trust issues, longing, and claims of virility—while simultaneously asking 'why not me?'—prove this artist hasn’t evolved since 2012. Its attempts to say Hip-Hop music and culture can be accessible from anywhere comes up short. With lyrics like Gassin' you up,/ these American guys/ are something different/ they just talk looser than us from 'RAINING IN HOUSTON', Drake tries to prove that mainstream success and regional authenticity can coexist—but instead, it comes off as self-indulgent. The use of Old School samples ("GIMME A HUG") and beat styles ("NOKIA"), feel more about style than appreciation for its existence and undermines this argument. Heavy use of auto-tune in a time where the Culture is hungry for unique voices - and rewarding the industry for sating them - feels tone deaf and unserious.

If hip-hop is moving toward organic artistry, this album doesn't just struggle to argue against it—it inadvertently proves why the shift is necessary. If the argument is that success can be found in arrested development, then the shifts over the last year will solidify.

This is not a terrible album, it's on the balance a good one. But it has a place: the VIP section, the background at the kick-back as it thins out, and the girl you want to stay is still lingering; the packed club; the singles mixer. It's no accident this album dropped on Valentine's Day.

And for what it is, $$$4U plays its part.

6/10