DJ Khaled & Drake 'POPSTAR'

DJ Khaled and Drake have teamed up with their new release 'POPSTAR' and it is everything that you expect it to be....but nothing more.

'POPSTAR' is your typical commercial trap record. The sort we hear year in, year out without exception. They generate money, are samey and lack any sort of artistry.

Drake as an artist, is actually quite good and has the ability to transcend genres, unfortunately it is artists like DJ Khaled who lack that ability. The music we hear from DJ Khaled is never fresh, it never pushes musical boundaries and never sounds like something that's not already on the radio.

It is sad. Khaled never seems to take any risks with his music and never seems to want to diversify his catalogue. I would go as far to say DJ Khaled is not very versatile as a producer, we never hear anything from him that he or someone else hasn't already done but better. So as for the production of 'POPSTAR', it is shameful and categorically subpar.

In regard to the vocals, Drake's delivery on this new release is actually quite decent. He flows nicely and he rides the beat well. As for his lyrics, there's nothing too deep or meaningful about them but that's okay because we know Drake is a versatile artist who has a multitude of deeply conscious tracks in his catalogue. However, on the vocal front, there's not really much more to say about the track.

The video however is a whole cliché mess.

The video begins with a montage of Khaled facetime video messages to Drake, begging him to do a 'POPSTAR' video. After this segment the video cuts to Drake, at home, complaining to a friend about Khaled's nagging in regard to the video. He says he will 'call in a favour' by which time, we realise that Drake will not perform his verses in the video and we instead get a cameo from Justin Bieber who performs the Drake verses.

Bieber wakes up in a mansion bed, surrounded by sleeping women, and proceeds to make his way down the stairs with a champagne bottle in his hand to the morning mansion party (yes it's all very cliché). We then get shots of the mansion party and a segment of people dancing to the song in front of sports cars.

And that's all we get. Bieber, alcohol, women and sports cars. It's just unimaginative materialism as a backdrop for a cliché trap record.

It's a shame because Drake is a fantastic versatile artist and Bieber's track 'Intentions' ft. Quavo was a hit but insert DJ Khaled and it's a whole mess.

DJ Khaled ft. Drake - 'POPSTAR'

★ ★