Album review: Her Loss
When Drake and 21 Savage announced in October that they would come together for a joint-album, it
broke the internet. However, the album was delayed until November 4th.
When the album finally dropped, it didn’t disappoint. The hip-hop super duo created a 16 song project that shows off both sides of the artists’ palates: Drake’s romantic persona and 21 Savage’s bass-supported, street-like flow.
To nobody’s surprise, there weren’t a lot of features on this album. However, every guest appearance
was used beautifully. They contracted Travis Scott for (in my opinion) the best song on the album,
“***** and Millions.” The beat starts out with a 90s vibe, where Drake does another song about how
much money has. He gives listeners a new instagram caption: “They say more money, more problems.
Bring on the problems.” Then, he breaks into a flow not seen since Views (2016). After that, 21 Savage
comes in to talk about his love life, and he steadily stays on beat. All of a sudden, the beat switches to
one that Travis Scott most likely engineered. Scott comes in and immediately takes over the song,
putting the other artists on his back and showing that he’s still in his prime as an artist. Scott expertly
uses auto tune and his signature ad-libs in this song, which just cements the claim that he is the best
auto tune user since T-Pain.
The next feature song is is More M’s, produced by Metro Boomin. For years, Metro has been the best
producer in the game, and he’s been a frequent 21 Savage collaborator. The two joined forces for
Savage Mode II, which is widely acclaimed as one of Savage’s best albums. Even though he didn’t rap on
the song, Metro was cooking with grease when he created the beat, using blaring bass and a hi-hat
contrast for a beat that 21 Savage could navigate like the streets he raps about. The beat sets the tone
for the whole song. It exudes Black Airforce Energy. When Drake gets on the song, he perfectly matches
21’s energy. He stays away from the corniness that he’s come to be known for on social media to give us
a sound we’ve been missing since “Chicago Freestyle” in the Dark Lane mixtape.
Next, I want to focus on the love aspects of the album. When I looked at the track list and saw a song
called “Spin Bout You,” I had an idea that it would be about love. My prediction was correct, as the track
was a perfect example of a hood love song. What makes this song so good, however, is that Drake
doesn’t just spend the whole song harmonizing with himself. He actually raps. If I had to compare it to
something, Drake raps on this song like the Scorpion (2018) album cover. Neither he nor 21 Savage get
too complicated on the song, and I would recommend it to anybody.
This was a really good album by two people at the top of the rap game, yes, but I want to take a quick
break to do a little slander. “Hours in Silence” (no.7) is over 6 minutes long. That’s not necessarily a bad
thing – there have been plenty of good 6+ minute songs, but this is NOT one of them. It’s Drake by
himself. After Honestly, Nevermind (2022), I’m not sure if that’s something anybody wants. 21 Savage is
relegated to the chorus, something he hasn’t proved to be very good at when it comes to “singing”
songs. From the start of the song, it sounds like something that would be played in Foot Locker or on
WKYS. Drake only actually does anything on the beat until the 2:10 mark. After that, he’s just
harmonizing and singing random notes.
Drake just ends up repeating himself time after time, saying he has to “turn his ***** up” and that it
was his fault a woman didn’t love him (if he’s making songs like this, it probably is his fault). The song
becomes drawn out like a movie that runs over time, and the song could have comfortably ended at 3
minutes. It was agonizing to listen to. I do not recommend it. But that’s enough slander for one day.
Lastly, I want to talk about the first track of the album, “Rich Flex”. The opening audio tape and 21
Savage’s speaking part help build an already high level of anticipation for Her Loss. However, it sets up a
minor letdown when Drake bursts onto the scene saying “21, can you do some’ for me?” With that said,
it’s not nearly as bad as everyone on social media makes it sound. Listening to the song, it just sounds
like Drake trying to hype up his partner, 21, to do something exciting. Indeed, 21 uses the same
technique as Megan thee Stallion on “Savage” (2020). Sir Savage the 21st says “I’m a savage. Smack her
b**ty and magic.” It later came out that Meg thee Stallion received a writing credit for the song. Later
on, Drake used a similar tactic, but copied the flow of Atlanta’s own TI from his song “24’s” off of his
2003 album Trap Muzik.
“Her Loss” was a very good album. There weren’t many holes in its production, just a few mid level
songs, and “Hours in Silence”. I rate it an 8/10.
