Here’s my album review of Her Loss:
Since 12am on November 4, social media has been RAVING over Drake and 21 Savage’s new album, Her Loss.
On October 20th, producer DDot Omen announced on twitter that Drake and 21 Savage were dropping a project. However, this wasn’t confirmed by Drake or Savage for two days. Following on October 22, for 21 Savage’s 30th birthday, both of the rappers posted the announcement in their “Jimmy Cooks” music video.
Contrary to the negative connotation of a loss, Her Loss is actually a win. You can see tremendous improvement to previous works: new flows, dope beats, and shade thrown in the lyrics. It makes for an entertaining listening experience. Not to mention, Lil Yachty on the ad-libs added to the preeminence.
My Top 5 From Her Loss
1. “Spin Bout U”
Even though the album title is Her Loss, Drake takes jabs at U.S politicians in this song regarding reproductive rights. “Damn, just turned on the news and seen that men who never got pussy in school are making laws about what women can do,” Rapping over a sampled B.G.O.T.I’s ‘Give Me Your Lov-N’, Drizzy and 21 express their love and feelings.
To begin with, 21 kicks off “Spin Bout U” rapping, “I got feelings for you,” and when the beat slows down he says, “Fuck your main page what’s your finsta / I wanna know the real you.” In short, a “finsta” is a private Instagram page where people often post more personal content of oneself and their life. Above all, “Spin Bout U” is a love song about protection and respect over a good woman.
2. “Middle Of The Ocean”
Although Her Loss is a joint album, it features Drake more than 21 Savage. For example, Drake has four solo songs out of 16, while 21 Savage has one. In “Middle Of The Ocean,” Drake elegantly goes HARD. He uses two different beats and raps about his high profile fashion choices, his high-priced appetite, and his rich lifestyle. “This shit designed for divine ears.”
Indeed, Drake calmly and almost humbly talks about his rich lifestyle with fancy punchlines and a steady flow. But this song makes being rich sound like a lot of work. Although he does love the lifestyle!
3. “Major Distribution”
To start with, Drake sings over a slow piano instrumental. Unexpectedly, the beat makes a hard turn off the road into a faster trap beat. The pair brag about their streams and sales in this song, aligning themselves with big artists like Bad Bunny and Harry Styles. Even more, Drake notes that his music is doing “Bad Bunny numbers, its a robbery/ 500 million just for Aubrey.”
Then, Drake passes the baton to 21, where he name checks former One Direction member Harry Styles and uses clever wordplay with Zayn Malik’s name. “Harry Styles numbers, it’s a robbery / My ni**as go in-Zayn to catch a body, we was face to face, you could’ve shot me,” 21 raps. Ultimately, the high energy and fast paced rapping in this song makes it one of the best on the album.
4. “3AM on Glenwood”
When the announcement of Her Loss arose, fans were excited for another Drake special; a timestamp song. One thing Drake is notorious for is his timestamp songs, such as “5AM in Toronto” (2013), “6PM in New York” (2015), “4PM in Calabasas” (2016), and more. In these songs, he lyrically floats his streams of consciousness in the studio in the middle of the night. For this album, 21 Savage got a timestamp song.
Importantly, 21 shows major growth in his lyrics, and a different kind of maturity in his flow. He has a bona fide tone to him in this song, featuring hard hitting and introspective lyrics. The subject matter covers his life and experiences, losing loved ones, tragedies, PTSD, and more.
5. “Circo Loco”
Undoubtedly, “Circo Loco” is one that stands out from Her Loss. It samples Daft Punk’s “One More Time,” and is for sure a reassurance from Drake that he is the top dog. He wants all the smoke in this song, as he throws out subliminals toward many celebrities. Or did he?
In one line, he says “This bitch lie ’bout gettin’ shots, but she still a stallion,” This brought attention towards Megan Thee Stallion and her incident with Tory Lanez, where Megan told detectives that a drunk Lanez shot her in the foot. Lil Yachty recently denied those allegations saying, “It’s not about Megan it’s about women lying about their butt shots saying it’s real when it’s fake.” Drake also admits in the song, “Linking with the opps, bitch, I did that shit for J Prince,” which fans have connected to Drake’s recent reunion with Kanye West at the Larry Hoover concert last year.
Her Loss Song By Song Breakdown
- Rich Flex (3.5/5)
- Major Distribution (4/5)
- On BS (4.5/5)
- BackOutsideBoyz (4/5)
- Privileged Rappers (4/5)
- Spin Bout U (4.5/5)
- Hours In Silence (3.5/5)
- Treacherous Twins (4/5)
- Circo Loco (4.5/5)
- Pussy & Millions (Ft. Travis Scott) (4.5/5)
- Broke Boys (3.5/5)
- Middle of the Ocean (4.5/5)
- Jumbotron Shit Poppin (4/5)
- More M’s (3.5/5)
- 3AM on Glenwood (4.5/5)
- I Guess It’s F**k Me (3.5/5)
Overall Review of Her Loss
Overall, we have shade being thrown, dope trap beats with fast switches, good production, and new flows. I think Her Loss is one of the best albums of the year. In the debate between what the best album of the year is, many people are debating between this and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, which Drake predicts in his album he will surpass in numbers.
Drake and 21 Savage’s musical relationship is really strong. The pair know how to throw the baton back and forth to each other to pick each other up in a song. A pair that carries each other goes far together. Her Loss is fun and meets the audience’s needs, not to mention shows a lot of growth in both of the artists.
Fans were upset at Drake’s most recent albums because it was a lot of singing. Drake came back with a bang in this album by rapping in all different types of flows. He even jumps on a Young Thug type beat in “BackOutsideBoyz.” 21 Savage on the other hand shows maturity in this album, and though he had only one solo song, he definitely stood out. Her Loss was a win for us.
