Drake review, Scary Hours 3: In six tracks, the Canadian rapper tells us more than he has in years

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. His acknowledgment of Swift lands in the same space in which he calls out their mutual sparring partner, Kanye West: “Every time that Yeezy called a truce, he had my head inflated/ Thinkin’ we gon’ finally peace it up and get to levitatin’.” On “The Shoe Fits”, Drake delivers some of his best bars in years over sumptuous, woozy beats. “I would never guessed that you n****s is this crazy/ She took d*** in Ibiza, you turned into Dick Tracy.” He’s in deep, introspective mode on “Stories About My Brother” as he champions a ride-or-die while reflecting on his own less appealing traits: “Beware of the dog, deep in my character flaws/ Humble back in 2012, now I give arrogant bars.” Again, though, this former romantic insists he is jaded for a reason: “F*** all the settling down / These boys married and lost/ I go for dinner they wife is there/ She starin’ across/ God forbid I take her and they suffer a terrible loss.” It’s a far cry from his bitter outbursts of recent years. Drake has never had much success when he tries to emulate his much younger peers, but it’s a delight to hear him refer to Ntuli’s ex-boyfriend as a “munch” – the contemptuous slang term popularised by Gen-Z hip-hop princess, Ice Spice. Australian production duo FNZ and Drake’s frequent collaborator Vinylz weave orchestral-style flourishes in with stuttery trap beats, against which he sings in an auto-tuned howl: “Bunch of feelings I just couldn’t shake/ Disrespect that I just shouldn’t take/ You just couldn’t see the good in Drake.” Come the bridge, it descends into a dose of catharsis: a refrain of “F*** my ex.” On a six-track EP, Drake tells us more than he’s managed to in years.