Released on Nov. 4, the album “Her Loss” by Drake and 21 Savage leaves fans unsatisfied. With their previous collaborative hits such as  “Jimmy Cooks” and “Knife Talk,” many fans were looking forward to what they would bring together once again, but their lyrics portrayed themes of toxicity and degeneracy, which made their album lackluster. 

Aubrey Graham, more prominently known by his stage name, Drake, has had 11 Billboard chart-topping albums that has led him down a road of fame and success. The Atlanta rapper, 21 Savage, was brought into the limelight of mainstream rap through Drake and his single “Sneakin’” released in 2016 prior to the release of “Views.” 

Rich Flex

The opening track  on the album sets the tone for the album about the lovechild of Drake and 21 Savage. The catchy lyrics and excitement around Drake and 21 Savage dropping a “rich flex” on their exes took this song to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song is easily the most popular from the album and for a good reason. As the artists go from verse to verse, a continuously changing beat and tempo follow along. Masterful production makes this track unforgettable – where having beat changes and adlibs could easily go downhill, the production makes all elements flow smoothly. 21 Savage even references Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” as a joke that nods to his own name. The duo highlight their usual styles, but build off each other in a way that shows that the chemistry on this album is going to give the rap world a run for their money. Where this song falls off is the problematic content that is only further emphasized throughout the rest of the album. The song comes off as egotistical, which is an issue when Drake and 21 spread a message of using their status as a justification to talk down to women. 

Major Distribution

The second track of “Her Loss,” “Major Distribution,” debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Nov. 19, 2022. With head-bopping beats produced by SkipOnDaBeat, Drake serves his signature style on “Major Distribution.” On this track, Drake boasts his immense success in the rap industry. “I’ve been out here crushing on success, now she my b**ch, for real.” Drake references the 500 million dollar deal with Universal Music Group signed earlier this year which he’s undoubtedly proud of as he states, “500 million, just for Aubrey.” After more than half the song, 21 Savage (previously invisible on the track), serves his verse by adding on to Drake, “Major distribution, labels calling / Harry Styles numbers, it’s a robbery.” While this record carries the sound and lyrics typical of  a classic Drake album, it’s simply unoriginal. The collaboration would’ve been much more enhanced if Drake and 21 Savage had more verse switches and add-libs on each others’ verses. Drake and 21 Savage, both of whom are bar powerhouses, had the potential and talent to  deliver a more meaningful track through their lyrics. The only notable aspect of this track was the production. 

On BS

The third song on the album, “On BS,” is catchy and stands out as a true combination of Drake and 21 Savage’s styles. The chemistry between Drake and 21 is clear as the two bounce lines off each other. Despite how different the two’s styles and even lyrics are, it is inarguable that they sound good together. 21 Savage’s hook, “On that bulls**t,” is simple but catchy. Here, they diss up-and-coming rap artists for owing their fame to features of more established  rappers like Drake and 21 Savage. We see this in lines like, “I jump on your song and make a label think they need ya.” The song, however, follows the same misogynistic tendencies that are seen throughout the album. Lines like, “I blow a half a million on you h*es, I’m a feminist,” serve to prove this point.  

Privileged Rappers

In “Privileged Rappers,” Drake raps about how rappers nowadays don’t know what it takes to become one since they are “privileged” and many of them do not even have a hit song since they signed, implying that even with all the wealth, they still couldn’t make it to the top. When 21 Savage raps, “Too many sticks, we go to war with whoever, ain’t never been biased,” he mentions how so many people attack them for . What was confusing and unnecessary  in the song was that 21 Savage and Drake brought up the topic of hooking up with a girl constantly throughout the song. They casually talk about the girl and objectify her as seen in these lyrics sung by 21 Savage, “She say she hungry, I gave her d*** for brunch/Send me my whole fee, I don’t do backbends and fronts.” They portray the directed woman as submissive and that all she has to offer is her body. With the upbeat instrumentals in the song, this track had the potential to be something more than rapping about girls or other rappers’ lives as it failed to be.

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Treacherous Twins

“Treacherous Twins” starts off smooth with lofi beats and transitions into Drake’s high vocals that he blends with rapping, a feature in his previous album “Honestly, Nevermind.” Drake sings about how his “twin” was like his best friend, “And I love you like my kin, it’s whatever for you/ I go up and down that road, I go anywhere you go,” implying to the listeners that this friendship was one-sided. When Savage comes in, he further illustrates how the “twin” wouldn’t reciprocate the same effort into the friendship, in which he raps about in the lyrics, “Would you go at n***** necks like a tie for me?/ Do the time for a crime you didn’t do for me?/ Or do a crime at a time when it was loose for me?” While the “twin” may be the rappers ride-or-die, 21 Savage questions if it was ever the same for them. In the title of this track, “twins” represents the loyalty and compassionism between close friends but “treacherous” shows the betrayal among them. Though the repetitiveness of the verses and the high autotune placed when Drake sang the lyrics degraded the overall quality of the song. 

Circo Loco

London-born Atlanta rapper, 21 Savage embraces his ability to call more than one country his home in “Circo Loco,” the ninth track on the album. He embraces his multinationality, football fanhood and estate upbringing through, “Went from Angell Town Estate to a big estate / Prolly woulda had a zombie on me if I would’ve stayed, Still posted in the A where ni***s feel me / Still gotta see the Gunners win Premier League.” However, 21 Savage’s message is clouded by the commotion caused by Drake’s discourteous lyrics discussing rapper Megan Thee Sallion’s shooting, who in Aug. 2020 had accused rapper Tory Lanez of shooting her foot. “This b***h lie ‘bout gettin’ shots, but she still a stallion.” These lyrics, unnecessary and extremely offensive, only aggravate the deeply rooted misogynistic attitudes in the rap community. 

Throughout this album, “Her Loss” lacked quality and didn’t live up to fans expectations. While many may enjoy this album purely due to the collaboration between two big names in the rap industry, when looking beyond the catchy beats and the assertive confidence, “Her Loss” fails to live up to its high expectations. 

Rating: 6/10