Let's start by stating that I like Drake. He won me over big time on the last record. I consider Take Care an achievement, for the maturity of the subject matter on a sophomore effort and for its subdued atmospherics. He's a very good songwriter and his last effort was a very good album.

And look maybe it's just me - I've been listening to Vampire Weekend's "Modern Vampires..." and Yeezus nonstop for an entire Summer, two records that each clock in under 40 minutes - but this Drake record often suffers from the same problem the most recent Timberlake album suffered from.

3 minute breaks as pre and interludes do not always make songs more effective. In fact more often than not they take away from a song's potential. And furthermore, the public's attention span is the shortest it's ever been. We digest things in 140 characters or simply in visuals now, so asking listeners to hang around an extra two and a half minutes just to remind them that you "get it and get it" is really putting them out; to quote Tom Petty's famous songwriting motto "Don't bore us, get to the chorus."

He'll bounce back. He's rapping better than ever, his vocabulary is improved, he's not afraid to try new flows, and he's done all this while never really sacrificing his song craft. Some different production and more efficient song structures will hopefully come in time.