Drake, No Face | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-winning rapper Drake, decimated by rap beef in 2024, embraces a more aggressive, hard-nosed approach on his brief single, “No Face.”

“All these years throwin’ success in your face / All of these baddies obsessed with my face,” Drake (Aubrey Graham) asserts in the pre-chorus of his brief rap banger, “No Face”.  He continues, “All the shit they don’t address in my face / I can’t be showin’ no stress in my face, what? Yeah.” For the Grammy-winning rapper, it’s been a lackluster year.  He’s been involved with rap beef, most notably with Kendrick Lamar.  Drake and Kendrick are two different rappers.  Drizzy facing an elite lyricist the stature of K-Dot seemed like bad news from the start.  Arguably, he’s struggled to rebound, with many so-so, forgettable features.  Once again, on “No Face,” Mr. Graham seeks to exude toughness and reignite the fire.  Does he?

“No Face” has a hardnosed, tough sound.  At times throughout his career, this vibe has worked for Drake.  He’s no hardcore rapper, but, sometimes a more assertive approach has yielded respectable results.  “No Face” is okay by my estimation. Still, it’s not the second coming or resurrection of the rapper.  “This is the shit that my daddy had raised me on / Niggas got lift off the features I skated on,” he spits in the first verse.  At the end of the verse, he addresses critics and haters: “None of you pussies is blockin’ my blessings here, what?” One of his most memorable lines occurs at the end of the second verse where he asserts, “I’m spreadin’ my wings, I hop out, cocoon / I’m studio trappin’, I’m locked in the room, what?” So, new music is on its way, it appears.  The chorus is unforgettable, thanks to one-dimensional repetition: “No face, no, face…” Backed by a menacing minor-key backdrop (London Cyr, Connor Sewer, DJ LEWIS, and Octavian),  “No Face” suggests Drake plans to re-up and evolve his music career. Will it happen? Time will tell.  Notably, he has been accused of stealing lyrics…

Drake // “No Face” // OVO / Republic // 8.31.24

Drake, No Face [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; OVO / Republic; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]