Drake Collects Odds and Ends for Surprise Mixtape ‘Dark Lane Demo Tapes’

Adi Mehta

Fresh from soundtracking innumerable Tok Tok videos with his viral “Toosie Slide,” Drake has seized the moment and released a surprise mixtape of everything he seems to have found lying around. The rumors of a release began when fans recently discovered new songs credited to Drake through Shazam. Drake took to Instagram this week stating that he plans to release another proper album this summer. In the meantime, he has decided to follow the precedent of last year’s “Care Package,” and toss out a collection of odds and ends. “Dark Lane Demo Tapes,” his fifth mixtape and first full-length release since 2018’s “Scorpion,” collects leaked tracks, outtakes, and songs accumulating on Soundcloud. It is peppered with star appearances, some more substantive than others, and traverses various styles, from the dance forays to UK drill music. Ultimately, however, it sounds exactly like what it is — a collection of mostly throwaway tracks. 

The mixtape Drake begins with “Deep Pockets,” a “Scorpion” outtake that surfaced on Drake’s Instagram Live in back April. A hazy, lo-fi production, the result of plenty dusty crate digging, comes across like an OVO badge of honor, and Drake delivers standard fare in casual mixtape style, remembering, “Back when the house that I own now was my home screen,” and reflecting on how far he has come, before smugly pointing out “deep pockets on a nigga, I can’t find my phone in.” “When to Say When,” a song with a video in the making, continues in this vein. Atop an old school Kanye-style beat, built around a pitched-up soul vocal sample, Drake muses, “I got all these blessings just to give it to others anyway,” and seems to really bask in his own glow, ostensibly patting his own back to the beat, alluding to figures he brushed up against along the way, and insisting that what sets him apart is knowing “when to say when.”

“Chicago Freestyle” enlists Giveon for a barebones vocals and piano chorus in which he shouts out to the titular city, suggesting “Meet me by the Bean,” in reference to the famous city sculpture. A spacious beat, largely bare and untreated, but with an eerie bending effect that adds a little edge, vaguely recalls the James Blake’s productions, although considerably removed and diluted. Drake continues to sort throw lessons learned along the way, and eventually interpolates the chorus from Eminerm’s “Superman” from 2020’s “The Eminem Show,” the borrowed bit seeming to roll off the tongue more readily than anything yet. Next, “Not You Too” pairs Drake with Chris Brown, the second collaboration between the two within a year. Unlike the last effort, “No Guidance,” this track is boldly stretching the meaning of a guest feature, and Chris Brown fans have been vocal about their disappointment with his largely inaudible vocals. The song is a bit like an afterthought on the previous track, lingering in the same sonic sphere, with the two R&B crooners exchanging some slapdash phrases about experiencing hurt together.

With all his talk about knowing “when to say when,” Drake does indeed seem to have his finger on the pulse, with his increasingly trendy undertakings receiving increasingly welcome receptions. Narrating dance instructions in real time seems like it was a long time coming. Illustrious Atlanta choreographer Toosie, who gives “Toosie Slide” its name, made his dance viral well before the number made its way into the mixtape, and at this point, it has already extended Drake’s reach to yet another fashionable subgenre. “Desires,” another Future collaboration, the first since January’s “Life Is Good” is a banger, with Drake and Future hitting all the right marks, loitering at the nexus of hip-hop and R&B, with some streamlined songwriting. The lessons continue as Drake reflects, “I should’ve put you somewhere where no one could find you,” building to the climactic line, “‘Cause you got desires.” Future’s contributions are relatively scant, but there’s palpable chemistry and a catchy chorus. Next, “Time Flies” turns up the sentimental factor, and Drake embraces his whinier side for a relationship song that finds him returning wide-eyed to the past and entertaining hopes of making amends, expressed succinctly in the pitch-shifted hook of “I’m outside,” another example of Drake’s knack for effortlessly materializing infectious numbers from scraps. 

“Landed,” a no nonsense braggadocio exercise brings a welcome change of pace. Over a minimal, repetitive beat, Drake raps about his riches, and has enough to say on the matter to eventually enter an impressive state of flow. “D4L,” a tribute to the Atlanta Rap collective of that name, finds Drake joining forces with two other Atlanta giants, Young Thug and, once again, Future. Over the beat from Dreezy & 2Chainz’ 2018 track “2nd to None,” the three take turns flossing, making for a lighthearted exchange between colorful characters. Then, Playboi Cardi joins Drake on “Pain 1993,” which derives its name from fashion designer Ian Connor’s motto, “Born from Pain 1993.” Over a backdrop of open R&B gloss, Carti delivers his trademark, layered helium hip-hop singsong alongside an easygoing flow from Drake, for some more cartoony name dropping and grandstanding.

The emotional peak of the mixtapes comes with “Losses,” an outpouring about a relationship gone wrong. The production is like nothing else on the record, a haze of vocal samples pitched every which way, an old hip-hop track taken to new extremes, to thoroughly satisfying ends. It’s an apt backdrop for a retrospective leveling, and Drake goes to town, ending each verse by insisting, “I’m not tryna make no song, these are cold facts.” Then comes possibly the most lo fi things Drake has ever done, “Scorpion” outtake “From Florida With Love.” It’s unclear exactly what he’s going for here, as the instrumental doesn’t seem as edgy as incomplete and awkward, and doesn’t seem particularly suited for the song, apart from in its casual nature. It’s a track full of shout outs to Lil Wayne and YMB, with Drake even seeming to pick up some of Wheezie’s inflections at certain points.

For the final two tracks, Drake taps into the aesthetics of UK drill music, a sound he has explored before on tracks like 2018’s “Behind Barz.” “Demons” is a dark, aggressively syncopated track, with choirs and the abundant sub bass on the album. New York rappers Sosa Greek and Fivio Foreign join Drake for a lively back and forth. “War” gets more jagged, angular, and bassy yet. It’s another instance of Drake getting particularly into the zone, feeding off his own energy in a self-perpetuating flow. He casually picks up cadences and manners from the drill culture, and zig zags through past beefs with fugures such as the Weeknd without getting caught up in the details, limiting himself to measured observtions like “Niggas can’t even win home games / they just gotta fall in line like Soul Train.”

As an expert marketer who prides himself on knowing “when to say when,” Drake likely recognizes the unspoken value of the mixtape format. On a mere “mixtape,” there’s no need or expectation to even approach album standards. Of course, there are other appeals like the freeform format that allows more fluid creative expression, but that doesn’t apply to “Dark Lane Demo Tapes.” The tracks collected here are not slapdash envisionings, but fully realized works. In most cases, however, it’s easy to see why they didn’t make the cut elsewhere. Like all of Drake’s releases, this record shows off his versatility, with the excursions into UK drill especially standing out. Yet, this can devolve into a sort of musical tourism. Some songs are downright infectious, and there are scattered moments that send sparks, but this is altogether an underwhelming supplementary record to hold die hard fans over until the next album. 

“Dark Lane Demo Tapes” is available May 1 on Apple Music.