On the other it's a glimpse at the global musical future Drake has it in his power to create, one in which the sound of hip-hop is steered ever-closer to its cousins in Caribbean dancehall and West African pop. You've got “Redemption” and “U With Me?,” songs that capture the best of Drake's navel-gazing appeal, that remind us there's no rapper better at describing the psychological burdens of staring at a phone screen.

On one hand it's a tidy career summation, Take Care Part Two, a victory lap for the city of Toronto, and the most refined version yet of 40's signature sound, that underwater chipmunk soul that shaped this entire decade of R&B. VIEWS feels like an album conservatively designed for either eventuality.

Still, there's a world in which that greatest hits is already more or less complete, in which the songs we remember Drake for forever are “Started from the Bottom” and “Hotline Bling,” and another in which, roughly seven years into his career, Drake is just hitting the period in which the greatest of his hits are yet to be made. (Isn't it always?) And he's right: His greatest hits will be unforgettable. He quips that most rappers with a deal “probably couldn't make a greatest hits,” but it's really about himself. Perhaps he's just trying to catch a view of his legacy, to see where it might be headed.ĭrake's not even 30-although by his math he's only got until 35 until he becomes irrelevant-but he's already, by the chart numbers, among the most successful rappers of all time, on the verge of being even more successful than that, within the echelon of single-named pop deities and the Beatles. Maybe he's sizing up the line at the Cheesecake Factory, where sales of late are no doubt through the roof. Perhaps he's scoping out the next C-list Toronto rapper to decide to carry out a grudge against, or maybe it's, like, a chance to set a target on the back of a club owner who didn't let him play there once in 2008. Look at Drake up there, perched on the CN Tower, looking out at something. Drake's Battle with Himself, by Kyle Kramer

Views from the 6 album songs