We have come to the end of this leg, August 2018, where Drake goes on a 10 week rampage with his no.1 hit "In My Feelings." The song inspired a perplexingly dangerous dance challenge and helped to propel Drake even further into the pop stratosphere. Will the musical elements in the song fall in line with the other no.1 hits through the decades?
July 21, 2018: Drake's "In My Feelings" jumps from no.6 to no.1!
This is the first song I've analyzed that is comprised solely of electronic instruments. There are a myriad of samples, synth sounds, programmed drums and low bass frequencies peppered throughout the entire track. There is some rippin' percussion that appears at the end that according to Wikipedia adaptation of the liner notes, seems likely to be programmed as well[1].
The form to this one is unique to other songs analyzed. It starts with a section I refer to as the Intro (I). This four measure section establishes the chord progression and groove and features Drake giving props to his producer and acknowledging his feelings. This section reappears two more times in the song, with the second time having different lyrics. So while it's an intro, it's more of a recurring interlude (which also starts with I). In my simplified form, I labeled it A', representing an extension of the A section (chorus).
Flypaper's Dean Olivet wrote a great article analyzing every song that reached that top 5 in 2018 (a great read!) and he calls this section "P," for "pre/post chorus" which is accurate, save the third time where it neither precedes or follows a chorus [2].
The song also has two bridges. The first one (B1) appears when I would expect to see a second verse. In fact, I almost labeled it a 2nd verse, but it doesn't share melody or harmony with the established verse. It also features The City Girls, providing a shift in texture and timbre. The second bridge (B2) functions more like a traditional bridge both in position and harmonic/ melodic shift.
The chorus, a grounding and familiarizing element of the song, is not without variation either. The second chorus features slightly different lyrics and the third chorus is all chopped up, missing 2 bars and cutting off lines of phrases. Each chorus evolves by sprinkling in different rhythmic and melodic bits each time. The second chorus even foreshadows the second bridge by including "you're the only one I know" and "let's go."
Chord Progressions
This is a tough one*. The 2 chord loop that appears throughout the song is very difficult to pin down. It is so soft and dreamy that not only is rhythm not clearly articulated, the pitches swirl in the fog of their own overtones. The top line is the guitar-like sample with the bottom being the hazy keys.
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| Chord Loop with lead |
The first chord is a Db major, supported by the low bass/drum tone. Bb and G appear in the moving lines, insinuating DbMaj13#11? The second chord could be called Cmin. It often functions like the I chord though so it could be viewed as AbMaj7/C (with no root). While the sample doesn't hit the Ab, the vocal melody does frequently, rooting the song in Ab major. Either way, iii is a common sub chord for I, so it never comes off as too foreign, again thanks to the help of the vocals. Both bridge sections hang out on Db before making their way back to the 2 chord loop.
So at its core, this song is just IV / I ://
*I primarily transcribed this part from the end of the song where it is more exposed.
Melody
Vocally, this entire song is built on a 3 note pattern, with an occasional detour to 4 additional notes, or an extended stay on one of them during the raps.
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| Chorus 1 |
The chorus is built on this continuous pattern of C, Bb and Ab - R, Maj 2 and Maj 3 (Do Re Mi) in the key of Ab. The detours happen in the chorus where he gets up to the Db a few times and down to G, F and Eb at the end of the 8 bar phrase. The result is a very catchy line that gets stuck in your head due to its simplicity, unrelenting rhythm and familiar intervalic motion (this down up motion of the first three degrees of the major scale occurs in many children's songs).
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| Verse 1 - first 4 bars |
The only real verse of the song continues to employ the ol' 3 note shuffle, moving back and forth between C, Bb and Ab, this time leaving even less space than the chorus. Drake showcases his flow, dropping his voice an octave into more of a speaking tone, further differentiating this section from the chorus.
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| Intro/Interlude (1st and 3rd) |
The melodic extended stay happens in the intro/interlude section when Drake raps on a Bb.....which harmonically would adjust the chords to Db6 (as mentioned above) and Cmin7, or Abmaj9/C, whichever you prefer. I do like this section, as it provides some much needed space after the rhythmically busy chorus and verses.
Speaking of rhythmically busy.....the 2 bridges weave a web of thick rhythms, that on paper, maybe shouldn't breathe as much as they do.
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| Bridge 1 - City Girls |
The first bridge, sung by the City Girls, give us many variations of 8th and 16th note combinations. The second bridge features even more variation, this time right on top of each other!
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| Bridge 2 opening 2 bars |
The second bridge returns to the main chord loop after veering off the the Db chord. Here, we get a variation of the opening bars as well as some singing, which sounds fresh after all the rhythmic banter. This singing part, foreshadowed in the second chorus, is a great contrast to Drake's tone and I wouldn't mind hearing this part further developed.
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| Bridge 2 - last 4 bars |
Musical Sticking Points
The drum and bass groove throughout is an intricate arrangement syncopations between bass/drum, snare/claps and cymbal tones. In a way, it foreshadows the rhythmic assaults we will hear later in the song.
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| opening drum groove |
The core of this appears in a few different forms, cut up and altered a bit during the bridges. The constant, extrapolated from the groove, is the snare/clap pattern that makes its way into every section.
The defining section in the song is certainly the chorus and the short interlude. Between those sections, we get the hook, the title of the song and the most singable melodic variation, especially for those causal non rappers who like to sing along while walking alongside of their ghost driving car.
In a way, this song is an exercise in minimalism, repeating and exploiting a small amount of musical information and contorting it as many ways as possible without completely alienating the original intentions of the groove. Who would have thought poor unfortunate little Jimmy from Degrassi High School would be such a musical innovator (I can't imagine anyone refers to Drake as Jimmy anymore, but you know what they say about first impressions).
I did give a quick listen to various samples found within the song[1], mostly used for percussion parts:
"Lollipop" - Lil Wayne
"Smoking Gun (Acapella Version)" - Magnolia Shorty
"Drag Rap (Triggerman)" - The Show Boys
Lyrics
Drake tries to woo lots of ladies? He calls out several woman by name, proclaiming that he wants them and needs them by his side.
He does get a little introspective in the verse with "look, the new me is really still the real me, look you gotta feel me before they try and kill me," a possible nod to criticism of his new sound [3].
There's a lot of references in here that are well above my pay grade of jazz/GB musician and elementary school music teacher. As I was listening, one line from the first bridge stuck out:
Two bad bitches and we kissin' in a Wraith
Kissin'-kissin' in a Wraith, kiss-kissin' in a Wraith
As an avid fan of the horror and fantasy genres, my brain immediately went to "wraith" as being a ghost, or more specifically, "Bog Wraith," a card from the Alpha Edition of Magic: The Gathering. Boy, was my face red after I learned the Wraith is actually a type of Rolls-Royce......see, well above my pay grade.
Common Threads
Throughout this project, I have been searching for elements that each of these very different songs have in common. After making it through six decades, how does Drake match up? Here is where we left off:
- melodies utilize and resolve to chord tones - Not quite? That all depends on how you view the Cmin chord. Come to think of it, most of the phrases resolve on a Bb, which is the min7 of Cmin, and a whole step away from the tonal center of Ab....though the resolutions never come off as dissonant.
- vocal melodies repeat rhythmic and melodic themes - check
- lyrics about love - check
- repetitive chord sequences - CHECK
- memorable vocal hook that uses the song title - Nope!
- background vocals (harmonies) featured throughout - Not Really
- music evolves throughout - check
There are quite a few bucks to the trend going on here. The biggest one being the lack of the title in the vocal hook and the lack of background vocals. Yes, there are times with multiple vocal events occurring, but to my ear, they are more decorative to the sonic landscape than critical to the melodic presentation, like we have seen in all of the other songs.
The melodic resolution is a little marred by the disconnect between the chords and the vocal melody. The song is definitely in Ab major, but the chords on their own would lead you to believe otherwise. As a fun exercise, I played an Ab, instead of Cmin, on acoustic guitar while singing the chorus melody. It gave a very different feel, yet still worked. In any case, most of the phrases leave the Bb taste in your mouth, an extended chord tone at best.
Final Takeaways
I mentioned at the end of the last analysis that I was unfamiliar with this song. It turns out I had heard it, only because I was sucked into to watching "Kiki Challenge Fail" videos. This song has many elements that are outside of my musical comfort zone and lyrics outside of my experience.
There is a familiar quality to this tune though. Some of the vocal melodies and rhythms in the bridges remind me of childhood playground chants. I could picture these chants happening during recess, hopefully with some cleaner language. As mentioned, the use of do, re and mi also help give it that children's song quality, in the most ironic of ways.
Honestly, I am shocked that this song is so popular. It goes against so many standard pop music conventions. In a strange way, it gives me hope that mass tastes are willing to accept new and different flavor combinations.
What do you think of this song? Did the inconsistencies catch your ear or blend seamlessly into the extremely well produced final product? I would love to read your comments.
Up next time, a recap of the analysis journey thus far. We have made it through the first round of 7 "Decade Hits!" I also can't help but be excited for round 2!
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion_(Drake_album)#Personnel
[2]https://flypaper.soundfly.com/produce/we-analyzed-every-dang-song-that-cracked-the-billboard-top-5-in-2018/
[3]https://genius.com/15085692
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