The world of record company delays and contract disputes is boring and complicated, but it's important to know that this record was originally put out on the sly by Terius Nash – aka The-Dream in – 2011. With the dramas now sorted, Def Jam put it on the digital shelves for real at the end of last year. It opens with Wake Me When It's Over, which is clearly influenced by Drake's massive Marvin's Room, which would have still been relatively new at the time. It shows off his pop songwriting prowess (dude co-wrote Bieber's Baby and Rihanna's Umbrella – two of the biggest pop songs of the last ten years) and also acts as some kind of transition into the darker R&B stuff like The Weeknd, for whom Nash actually helped pave the way.
He curses pretty hard throughout the record's duration, definitely trying to put some distance between himself and the pop charts by adding a tougher edge to the lush R&B textures – the whole record is full of hooks. Long Gone adds some guitar samples into the palette but it still lopes along with the same creepiness as the rest of the record. There are only a couple of rapper guest spots, but they're worth it. Big Sean raises his profile a bit higher on Ghetto after his amazing spot on Kanye's Clique, and Pharrell on Real value-adds like he sometimes does when he breaks out of his comfort zone on the mic.
Overall, there's a focus on the lyrics and subtle melodies, with the production just pushing everything along – but it works really well, even if the texture wears out before the record does.
