Drake Would Love Me

"Drake Would Love Me"
Song by K. Michelle
from the album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?
Released December 2, 2014 (2014-12-02)
Genre R&B
Length 4:19
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Kimberly Michelle Pate
  • Bianca Atterberry
  • Oak Felder
  • Ronald "Flippa" Colson
  • Stephen Mostyn
Producer(s)
  • Oak Felder
  • Ronald "Flippa" Colson
  • Steve Ace

"Drake Would Love Me" is a song recorded by American singer K. Michelle for her second studio album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? (2014). It was released on December 2, 2014 through streaming on VH1's website, and it was later made available with the rest of the album on December 9. An R&B ballad, the song is about a romance with Drake. Michelle wrote it from the perspective of the rapper's female fans. She received his approval prior to its release. Music critics had varying opinions on the song's connection with the album's sound and themes. "Drake Would Love Me" was well received by critics, though some were uncertain about Michelle's decision to dedicate a song to Drake.

Recording and release

Kimberly Michelle Pate,[lower-alpha 1] Bianca Atterberry, Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Oak Felder, and Stephen Mostyn wrote "Drake Would Love Me".[2] Felder, Colson, and Steve Ace produced the song. The vocals were recorded by C. Travis Kr8ts, with assistance from Felder, and produced by Atterberry. Donnie Meadows and Tanisha Broadwater coordinated the production. Jaycen Joshua mixed the song, with assistance from Maddox Chhim and Ryan Kaul, and it was mastered by David Kutch.[1]

Michelle had played the track for Drake to receive his permission,[3][4] and he responded: "You’re crazy as shit, but it’s a great record."[4] She wrote "Drake Would Love" from his female fans' perspective, but clarified that she had only a platonic relationship with the rapper.[4] When describing women's opinion of Drake, she felt they enjoyed his love songs in comparison to other male artists' more vulgar material.[5]

On December 2, 2014, "Drake Would Love Me" was streamed on VH1's website,[6] before being made available with the rest of Michelle's second studio album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? on December 9, 2014.[2] After Michelle released the album's track listing on November 3, 2014,[7] music critics cited the song's title as a highlight;[8][9][10] The New York Times' Jon Caramanica classified it as an example of clickbait.[11]

Composition and lyrics

An image of Drake holding a microphone while looking away from the camera.
The song revolves around an imaginary romance with Drake.[12]

"Drake Would Love Me" is a R&B ballad that lasts four minutes and 19 seconds.[2][12][13] MTV News' Rob Markman wrote that the opening has a "calming melody", and noted the instrumentation, containing a piano, a guitar, and a violin, builds over the course of the song.[6] Alfred Soto of Pitchfork identified "Drake Would Love Me" as a slow jam.[14] When describing Michelle's vocals, AllMusic's Andy Kellman said that she "emphasizes certain syllables like surgical knife twists".[2]

The song is about a romantic relationship between Michelle and Drake. Michelle sings about attending the Grammy Awards, while receiving hate from his groupies.[12] The opening lyrics are: "I would be the apple of his eye and he would treat me like his grand prize -- trophy."[6] Michelle lists Drake's positive characteristics, singing that she would be "the best he ever had in bed" and he would "always be the same". The song includes references to Drake's music.[13] Lyrics include: "Drake wouldn't leave me, he would keep me, never break his promises / I'd be the best he ever had, he'd be on his best behavior."[15] The chorus includes the following lines: "Drake would love me, he would kiss me, he would touch me like I need."[6]

Media outlets referred to "Drake Would Love" as fan fiction.[15][16][17] Nolan Feeney of Time compared the lyrics to Dr. Seuss and Amanda Bynes' tweet that she wanted Drake to "murder [her] vagina".[13][lower-alpha 2] Commentators had varying opinions on how the song represented Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?.[5][17][19] Emily Laurence of Metro New York felt that it showed how every track was not "intensely emotion-filled",[5] while The Quietus' Alex Macpherson fits the album's narrative, in which Michelle tries to reconcile her need to love hard with the reality of the men she encountered".[17] Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe cited "Drake Would Love" as how the album explores themes of vulnerability and sexuality.[19]

Critical reception

A woman with long red hair is singing into a microphone while looking away from the camera.
Some critics praised Michelle for her vocals,[14][15][20] while others were more uncertain about her choice to record a song about Drake.[15][16][21]

Critical response was largely positive. Jon Caramanica praised "Drake Would Love Me" as "great clickbait soul",[11] while Alfred Soto cited the song as having Michelle's best vocals in her career due its sense of urgency.[14] As part of his review of Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?, Ken Capobianco selected "Drake Would Love" as a highlight. He wrote that it contains a "vulnerability and rubbed-raw tension rarely heard in R&B today".[19] Despite their initial apprehension about the song, the Star Tribune's A.D. Amorosi and Martín Caballero of USA Today had positive reviews for it.[20][22] Amorosi commended Michelle for conveying "heartbreak at going unnoticed in the face of passion",[20] while Caballero described the track as an "anthemic big-stadium R&B ballad".[22] Meggie Morris of Renowned for Sound praised "Drake Would Love Me" as "seriously stunning, but charmingly amusing".[23]

Other reviewers were more critical of the song's focus on Drake. Despite praising the composition and Michelle's vocals, Kara Brown of Jezebel dismissed it as "the musical equivalent of trying to stop your friend from sending a third drunk text to that guy she kinda hooked up with a month ago".[15] The Washington Post's Chris Richards wrote that it was "mildly radioactive" to have a singer write and perform from a fan's viewpoint.[21] A writer for The Fader classified as the number one instance in which R&B was "just plain weird" in 2014.[16] In his review of Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? for Complex, Michael Arceneaux said: "Given the artist in question, the ridiculous has to be represented."[24]

Credits and personnel

Credits were adapted from the liner notes from Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart?:[1]

  • Coordinator [Production] – Donnie Meadows, Tanisha Broadwater
  • Lyrics By – Bianca Atterberry, Kimberly Pate
  • Music By – Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Stephen Mostyn, Warren Felder
  • Producer – Oak Felder, Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Steve Ace
  • Producer [Vocals] – Bianca Atterberry
  • Recorded By – C Travis Kr8ts
  • Recorded By [Additional] – Oak Felder
  • Mastered By – David Kutch
  • Mixed By – Jaycen Joshua
  • Mixed By [Assistant] – Maddox Chhim, Ryan Kaul

Notes

  1. ↑ K. Michelle is credited under her full legal name Kimberly Michelle Pate on the album's liner notes.[1]
  2. ↑ In March 2013, Amanda Bynes tweeted that she wanted Drake to "murder [her] vagina" and posted other messages about the rapper.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart? (Inlay cover). K. Michelle. Atlantic. December 9, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kellman, Andy. "AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ Wass, Mike (October 30, 2014). "K. Michelle Has A Song About Drake on Her New LP 'Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart?'". Idolator. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "K. Michelle Praises Drake, Disses Lil' Kim on 'The Breakfast Club'". Rap-Up. December 9, 2014. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Laurence, Emily (December 8, 2014). "K. Michelle: Heartbreak and hip hop". Metro New York. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Markman, Rob (December 2, 2014). "The Famous R&B Singer Made an Entire Song Dedicated to Drake's Love". MTV News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016.
  7. ↑ Fitzgerald, Trent (October 31, 2014). "K. Michelle Created A Song About Drake on New Album". The Boombox. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ Hudson, Tanay (October 31, 2014). "K. Michelle Has A Song Called "Drake Would Love Me" On Her New Album". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ Jules, Marvin (October 31, 2014). "K. Michelle Will Have A Song About Drake on her Upcoming Album". XXL. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jules, Marvin (December 17, 2014). "J. Cole's '2014 Forest Hills Drive' Has Largest First Week Sales for a Hip-Hop Album in 2014". XXL. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Caramanica, Jon (December 8, 2014). "Reality TV as Hip-Hop Incubator". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 Golding, Shenequa A. (December 2, 2014). "K.Michelle Believes in Her Heart of Hearts 'Drake Would Love Me'". Vibe. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 Feeney, Nolan (December 2, 2014). "K. Michelle Wrote a Song About Wanting Drake to Love Her". Time. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 Soto, Alfred (December 8, 2017). "Kimberly: The People I Used to Know". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Brown, Kara (December 2, 2014). "K. Michelle's 'Drake Would Love Me' Is Basically Fan Fiction". Jezebel. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 "The Fader Presents: Listmania! 2014". The Fader. December 19, 2014. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 Macpherson, Alex (December 18, 2014). "R&B Albums And Singles of 2014 With Alex Macpherson". The Quietus. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  18. ↑ Sieczkowski, Cavan (August 7, 2013). "Drake Comments on Amanda Bynes' Bizarre Tweets, Calls Them 'Weird And Disturbing'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 Capobianco, Ken (December 23, 2014). "K. Michelle, 'Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?'". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014.
  20. 1 2 3 Amorosi, A. D. (December 31, 2014). "New music: K. Michelle, Catfish and the Bottlemen". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018.
  21. 1 2 Richards, Chris (December 23, 2014). "Month's best music: D'Angelo, Charli XCX, Shy Glizzy and more". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  22. 1 2 Caballero, Martin (December 8, 2014). "Playlist: What's Martín Caballero listening to?". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016.
  23. ↑ Morris, Meggie (December 25, 2014). "Album Review". Renowned for Sound. Archived from the original on August 11, 2015.
  24. ↑ Arceneaux, Michael (December 11, 2014). "K. Michelle Trades Brashness for Subtlety on "Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?"". Complex. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018.
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