On May 1, 2020, Drake released surprise project, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes.”   The original rumored date for Drake’s full album, Drake holds his fans over with a mixtape of 14 songs.

Under great scrutiny, the mixtape received varied feedback from fans and music lovers across the world.  Though, regardless of opinion, all 14 songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 list, with Drake once again reaching the top of the music world.

With the release of “Dark Lane Demo Tapes,” it was greatly stressed that this mixtape is only just the start, a collection of “throw-aways” by Drake from his upcoming album releasing this Summer 2020.  With that being said, I feel that this project by Drake shouldn’t necessarily be measured with the rest of his albums such as “Take Care,” “Nothing Was the Same,” etc. Though, this mixtape still had some hits.

In my opinion, the two best songs on the project: “Chicago Freestyle,” and “D4L.”

“Chicago Freestyle,” was released previously to the mixtape, but with a feature from up and coming vocalist Giveon, the two compliment each other extremely well.  A softer tape than most on the project, Drake played to his strengths on this record.

On “D4L,” Drake teamed up with Future and Young Thug, with more of an intense track, a masterpiece, turning back the clock for another classic.

Sophomore Evan Adinolfe stated, “My favorites are “Deep Pockets,” and “Demons,” those songs really stood out to me.”

Though, the most hyped up track on the mixtape was “Pain 1993,” was a miss for me.  The feature from rapper Playboi Carti was horrible in my opinion, with his “baby voice” type of rap that I will never understand or enjoy.  Completely and utterly horrible.

But overall, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes,” was not a bad project at all.  I would rate the album a 6/10, not the best for my expectations of Drake, but still an extremely strong tape.