So, what to make of Comeback Season’s legacy almost ten years after it released? It’s a largely forgettable mixtape, made possible by its artist becoming arguably the biggest rapper in the world. I suppose it was apparent at the time for anyone listening to Comeback Season to see Drizzy’s plan to launch a career in both genres, but it seems the hindsight better illuminates this career path. The album’s slow-jams, typically underpinned by his early mentor Trey Songz, were often forgettable, which is incredible to consider once So Far Gone’s opening trio of “Lust for Life,” “Houstatlantavegas,” and “Successful” (followed in later years by “Hold On, We’re Going Home” and “One Dance”) dropped.

While my early impression of Drake was that he was a soft R&B-rapper hybrid, Comeback Season sounded more like a rapper trying to find his footing than someone trying to straddle the two genres. Interestingly, the weakest links on the album appear to be the pop-focused slow cuts. He’d continue to build that prophecy through So Far Gone and especially on Thank Me Later, when he set the stage for one of Jay’s best guest verses on “Light Up,” perfected the Drizzy iteration on Take Care’s “Under Ground Kingz,” and popped off on stream-of-consciousness lyrical tour-de-forces on “5 A.M./6 P.M. before he’d so much as shaken the Wheelchair Jimmy stereotype. While Drake of late is more likely to jack a style than emulate one, his penchant for modeling his flow after his heroes (Jay, Wayne, Kanye) is apparent on tracks like “Going in for Life.” Boasting, “if Hov is Jordan, I guess I’m cool with Pippen/’til I mention I wanna play a new position,” Drake’s already set the stage for his mythos, and cooly positioned himself as a G.O.A.T. Take for instance, some of Comeback Season’s stronger cuts, like “The Presentation.” The lush track features a glimmer of a hard-spitting, streetwise emcee, and while most of it falls flat (“I need drug money/Who’s got drug money?” is a capital L, even for 6 God standards), Drake’s confident, smoother self was clearly evident before “Ignant Shit” off So Far Gone.ĭitto for Drizzy’s Hov fantasies.

What interested me the most is how the project provided a character outline that Drake would continue to fill in over the next several years. Frankly, saying that you love Views is a more controversial take when it comes to assessing Drake’s music. True, Comeback Season sucks compared to nearly everything else we’ve heard from Drizzy since, and generally stating that won’t change diehards who probably have a more positive opinion of the project. Despite handling many of The Smoking Section’s album reviews from 2010 to 2016, I’d never actually listened to Comeback Season until a week ago. Granted, my opinion of the tape’s quality is neither ground-breaking nor persuasive. And, of course, Drake often comes across like the swag-less younger sibling who tries to grok his older brother’s cool, by putting on his letterman’s jacket. The track listing, as many other mixtapes from the era would attest, is bloated. Dilla, Kanye West, and 9th Wonder, notwithstanding) sounds like a one-dimensional rattle clanging out the speakers of a Motorola Razr. Ding me for using the equivalent of the passive voice to critique the project, but Drizzy’s first notable release still hasn’t aged well as it nears its first decade anniversary- and that’s not just because we have a continued discography in our possession to compare it to.Ĭomeback Season is an artifact. Let’s be blunt: Drake’s Comeback Season isn’t great.

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