Aubrey Drake Graham, commonly known as Drake, has done it again. Releasing his nineteenth piece of art titled Scary Hours 2.  The extended play (EP) has three tracks, including features from Lil Baby and Rick Ross, both of whom have collaborated with Drake in the past.  After teasing his fans on Instagram on Thursday March 4th, he dropped these tracks the next day. All three songs were very good, my favorite being “What’s Next”.

Being a Drake fan has been tough lately, with barely any music being put out and the upset album of Dark Lane Demo Tapes last year filled with leaked songs and “Care Package” being a let down fans are eager for something else. With Scary Hours 2, the Son of Toronto (Drake( has brought hope to all who listen, with three bangers of tracks titled “What’s Next”, “Wants and Needs”, and “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”.

“What’s Next” is a song with an upbeat tempo that you would listen to in order to get hyped up. Its something that just lifts your mood. Drake creates another catchy chorus like this one in previous songs “God’s Plan” and “Look Alive”. He raps with a playboy-like, bossy way that makes you want to bob your head up and down with lines such as “And New Year’s, all I did was stretch, okay? And Valentine’s Day I had s**, okay?  We’ll see what’s ’bout to happen next”.

“Wants and Needs” has a heavy bass that makes you sway with the beats. Drake opens up with a variety of rhymes that silence the bass, getting you ready for it to drop again. Lil Baby comes in after the first chorus with a fast beat and high energy that just make you dance. Alhough the bars are not as hard as they should be, they rap about generic things like sex, swimming with sharks, and being big influences in the rap game.

Drake references another king of the rap game, Kanye West.  They have had drama for quite a long time, as the media pits them against each other. Using “Yeezy” to name him because of his shoe brand, Drake playfully rifles at Kanye’s 2020 album JESUS IS KING.  Drake mostly takes a backseat on this track as Lil Baby proves he is still the king of Atlanta after taking over the beat.

“Lemon Pepper Freestyle” brings together one of the deadliest duos in the game with legend Rick Ross, and the song is easily the best of the three. Produced by Maybach music, the producer delivers a regular beat with a slower tempo than the previous songs as well as a sample from 2010’s “Pressure” by Quadron. We open out this six-and-a-half-minute freestyle with Rick Ross coming in with his low tone, followed by Drake spitting a few bars.  My favorite part of this EP is when the music stops at the 40-minute mark, and you think the song is over, out of the blue.  Toronto’s king comes out with bars shouting out people such as football player Patrick Mahomes and basketball player Demar Derozan. There are fewer bars about being the “petty king” and buying his foes’ personal belongings when they go up for auction, more about how he maneuvers picking up his son from school, parent-teacher conferences, and what he imagines his funeral at the Air Canada Center might be like (and who he would like to see attend).  It is quite refreshing to hear this side of Drake again with lines that make you think.

Overall this album was very good and got me excited for Certified Lover Boy, but had some generic lyracism.  I recommend this album to anyone who knows about the rap game and enjoys listening to good music or even any teen that likes an upbeat couple of songs.  Though it is not big enough to compare to albums among smaller EP’s it ranks well, surpassing Scary Hours 1.

9.5/10