Room for Improvement: Building a Better Version of Drake's 'VIEWS'

Image via Complex Original

1. "U With Me?"

2. "Child's Play"

3. "One Dance"

4. "Controlla"

5. "With You"

6. "Feel No Ways"

7. "Too Good"

8. "Faithful"

9. "Fire & Desire"

10. "Redemption"

I've tried to turn this into a concept album about Drake's love life, so the question posed by "U With Me?" becomes the most urgent issue to address. After establishing that as the dominant theme, I'm proceeding to the fun songs. Ending on "Redemption" means that Drake's final line is now "I'll never be forgiven." That feels right. Just 10 tracks. Call it the Illmatic of pettiness.

1. "Views"

2. "9"

3. "Hype"

4. "Weston Road Flows"

5. "Fire & Desire"

6. "With You"

7. "Too Good"

8. "Controlla"

9. "Child's Play"

10. "One Dance"

11. "Right Hand"

12. "Still Here"

13. "Grammys"

14. "U With Me?"

15."Redemption"

16. "Pop Style (f/ The Throne lmao)"

17. "Faithful"

BONUS: "Feel No Ways"

Drake explained the sonic theme of VIEWS as a seasonal journey through Toronto's harsh winter, where frosty temperatures enable reheated petty feelings for your ex; to an all-too-brief but still multiculturally​ lit summer, where equal parts fun is had with the squad and the opposite sex; and then back to winter.

My problem is two-fold: First, he doesn't quite stick to that script, word to the warm '80s synths of "Feel No Ways." Also, although this may be true of Toronto, the summer section is way too short. And some of these tracks as sequenced on the album just don't naturally feed into each other. There's whiplash from bitter ballads to squad flexing to indulging his current dancehall obsession. This tries to create a smoother journey with less abrupt lefts.

1. "Views"

2. "U With Me?"

3. "Hype"

4. "Still Here"

5. "Redemption"

6. "One Dance"

7. "Controlla"

8. "With You"

9. "Summer Sixteen"

10. "Child's Play"

11. "Fire & Desire"

12. "Grammys"

13. "9"

14. "Feel No Ways"

15. "Back to Back"

I decided to add some excitement and energy to my version of the VIEWS track list, and what better way to do that than by adding "Back to Back" and "Summer Sixteen"? The inclusion of "Back to Back" also serves as a final LP-sanctioned shot at Meek Mill. My version is also trimmed down a bit to keep it more concise.

Oh, and the regular version of VIEWS is still an 8/10.

1. "Hype"

2. "9"

3. "Views"

4. "With You"

5. "U With Me?"

6. “Redemption”

7. "Feel No Ways"

8. "Controlla" (Popcaan version)

9. "One Dance"

10. "Too Good"

11. “Summer Sixteen”

12. "Summer’s Over Interlude"

13. "Grammys"

14. "Pop Style" (The Throne version)

15. "Still Here"

16. "Weston Road Flows"

Drake had to follow up his dismantling of Meek Mill with a strong rap album, but instead he and the OVO team came through with an R&B-heavy record, heavy on the melodrama. The biggest problem is the sequencing. I decided to bookend my version of VIEWS with two high-energy records while also lumping the rap songs and the R&B songs together. I feel that this album art represents his win over Meek and Toronto's influence on today's musical landscape.

1. "Views"

2. "9"

3. "Still Here"

4. "Summer Sixteen"

5. "Weston Road Flows"

6. "Feel No Ways

7. "Redemption"

8. "One Dance"

9. "Fire & Desire"

10. "Summers Over Interlude"

11. "With You"

12. "Too Good"

13. "Controlla"

14."Child's Play"

15. "Faithful"

16. "Hype"

17. "Grammys"

18. "U With Me?"

19. "Keep The Family Close"

BONUS: "Can I"

I imagined that I was in the studio with Drake working strictly on the sequencing, and paid attention to both sounds and content. "Views" makes sense as the opener because it reveals his current mind state. It's the kind of song that he usually drops right before or after an album. "9," "Feel No Ways," and "Redemption" give the project a nice opening bounce, but also keeps us on the dirty-macking, my-life-is-dope-but-I've-still-got-a-lot-of-regrets-about-the-past-and-fresh-complaints-about-the-people-currently-around-me Drake who we've all come to love. Later I used "Fire & Desire," "Summers Over Interlude," and "With You" as a break, to create a transition into the records that make you want to dance, like "Too Good," "Controlla," and "Child's Play." If you don't catch a wave in the party after that sequencing, you're not meant to. God bless.

"Child's Play" winds down quietly, which makes the build of the Sweet James Jones-assisted "Faithful" knock a little more. At this point we've been listening to Drake and dvsn crooning and we need to feel whatever thuggery is left, immediately. Enter "Hype" and "Grammys." This isn't exactly the soundtrack to catching a body, but if you got caught on the slow wind of "Faithful" with someone you shouldn't have, I've just given you the excuse to spin move, pull the draw strings on your hoodie tight, and light one up with the goons.

Then we conclude with "U With Me?" and "Keep the Family Close." Untrusting, conflicted, and forever looking back. Signature Drake. Plus I love the way that "Keep the Family Close" ends. It feels like it's Drake's final observation about the lessons he's learned from other tracks on the album. (The ending commentary is everything to me. Wifey material for sure.) I capped off the project with "Can I" featuring Beyoncé as the bonus track. When I first head this, I was gassed to hear the full CDQ and I can't help but think of the reaction if he had dropped this right after LEMONADE.

I omitted "Pop Style" and "Hotline Bling." "Pop Style" did nothing for me and that "chaining Tatum" line is beneath him."Hotline Bling" is still the shit, but it was last year's wave. We off that.

1. "Views"

2. "9"

3. "Still Here"

4. "Grammys"

5. "Hype"

6. "Pop Style (f/ the Throne)"

7. "Faithful"

8. "Controlla (f/ Popcaan)"

9. "One Dance"

10. "Too Good"

11. "Child's Play"

12. "Feel No Ways"

13. "U With Me?"

14. "Weston Road Flows"

15. "Redemption"

First off, let's scrap this whole "winter to summer to winter again" structure. It would have made more sense for Drake to channel a classic Boyz II Men record in terms of feels. My revamped VIEWS track list opens with the more high-energy songs, which are appropriate for the Toronto rapper who was coming off his own "stunt on me once, I'll flex on you forever" 2015. This shifts midway with his two dancehall bangers before moving to a more introspective place. The album artwork represents #MyMariners. No bonus songs; bonus songs are for Target.

The leftovers:

"Keep the Family Close": We ain't here for the Burt Bacharach flows.

"Summers Over Interlude": Great track, Majid Jordan should have held this one for another project.

"With You": Drake wanna be PND so bad on this.

"Fire & Desire": R&B Drake is always welcome in my book, but this performance was extra.