Overall rating: 3/5
Her Loss, a collaborative hip-hop/rap album by Canadian artist Drake (Aubrey Graham) and American rapper 21 Savage (Shéyaa Bin Abraham Joseph), was released on Nov. 4 through four record labels: OVO, Republic Records, Slaughter Gang Entertainment and Epic Records.
The album involves numerous producers including Dez Wright, Metro Boomin, Taz Taylor, SkipOnDaBeat and more, as well as numerous songwriters including Anderson Hernandez, Bobby Session Jr., songwriting duo Michael Mulé and Issac De Boni, among others.
The album contains 16 songs. American rapper Lil Yachty, who was one of the album’s producers, picked the album’s cover photo. The album has a combined run time of one hour and one minute.
Production and Beats
The production of Her Loss is top notch, unsurprisingly so, as it is produced from some of the industry’s top names. Since the album was developed through four labels, Drake and 21 Savage are exposed to some talent in the beats department. The songs have instrumentals that perfectly complement the modern rap and hip hop genre.
Production and beats rating: 5/5
Songwriting and Lyrics
Drake carries in the lyrics department for Her Loss. While 21 Savage raps about the things he usually raps about such as his life, women and the like. Drizzy (Drake) threw in a lot of pop culture references in his verses while also cleverly referencing some recent political events.
“Damn, just turned on the news and seen that men who never got p**** in school are makin’ laws about what women can do,” raps Drake, in “Spin Bout U.”
Songs such as “Middle of the Ocean,” “Spin Bout U” and “Privileged Rappers” highlight Drake’s lyrical abilities. As for 21 Savage, his verses are predictable and don’t seem to tell a story or make a statement like Drake’s. You can only rap about “opps” and throw in the same “21” ad lib so much.
Songwriting and lyrics rating: 3/5
Song flow and structure
Some songs such as “Rich Flex” are partly ruined by bad production structure. It starts off with a nice beat with amazing hip hop flow that could’ve been used for the entire song, but that abruptly stops in the middle of a 21 Savage verse then it switches to an entirely different beat, not once, but twice. “Rich Flex” is the album’s first song, so its beat switch-ups don’t make for a good first impression, but the lyrics and beat were still superb.
Something akin to this happens in the album’s 11th song, “Broke Boys,” where there’s an abrupt change in the beat. “Hours in Silence,” the album’s seventh track, starts off with an upbeat tempo, then it slows down, which didn’t make the track enjoyable.
These kinds of abrupt changes are not good for rap and hip-hop songs; they should flow all the way through. They can be especially confusing for someone new to this genre of music. Apart from these three songs however, the structure of most other songs on the album are satisfactory.
Song flow and structure rating: 2/5
Album Name and Cover
Both the album’s name and cover do not align with the themes of most songs in the album. While there were mentions of love interests and women in some songs, the album name and cover was seemingly arbitrarily selected for the purpose of marketing rather than them actually depicting the album’s songs or its message.
Album name and cover: 1.5/5
Top three songs of the album
#3: “Rich Flex”
“Rich Flex” is a great introduction to this collaborative album between Drake and 21 Savage. The beat nicely compliments the two artists’ voices.
#2: “Treacherous Twins”
“Treacherous Twins” is the best collaborative song on the album. There was a sense of something new from the artists while they retained their original rapping styles.
#1: “P**** and Millions (ft. Travis Scott)”
Another rap sensation like Travis Scott only enhances Drake and 21 Savage’s verses in “P**** and Millions.” The song had it all: great lyrics, nice production and unmatched talent—making it the best song on the album.
Final comments
Overall, Drake and 21 Savage’s collaborative talents are good for one or two songs, but not an entire album. While Her Loss is adequate, their rapping styles are better off represented individually rather than being paired together.