Made up of leaks, one-off singles, and old demos, Drake's Dark Lanes Demo Tapes is a comparatively short collection of typically murky and melancholy tracks interspersed with the occasional pop track and semi-rambunctious feature. Some of the songs were considered for use on Scorpion, some were works in progress that were never ready for official release, and some are songs of 2010s/2020s vintage that found their way onto SoundCloud and other places. None of them come across like throwaways and a few come close to sounding like Drake at his downtempo best ("Chicago Freestyle") loosest ("Toosie Slide"), and hardest (the Future- and Young Thug-featuring trap jam "D4L.") The mix of different producers (names like Mexidro, O.Z., JB Made It and Noel Cadastre) help to make the mixtape relatively diverse-sounding and while it's still not as fun or sonically interesting as his early work, it's a step in a more progressive direction. The new collaborators and new styles (like the drill-inspired "Demons") don't do much to shake Drake out of his self-involved lyrical groove or help to cheer him up any, but the variations in sound and flow help make the feeling less oppressive. This collection is a nice gift for fans who wanted all these stray tracks gathered up in one easily accessible place and shows that Drake's cast-offs aren't far from his keepers and his minor moves are still worth following just in case he comes up with something genius. Nothing here quite rises to that level, but overall, it's a solid entry in his ever-growing catalog. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi

1		Deep Pockets
2		When To Say When
3		Chicago Freestyle
4		Not You Too
5		Toosie Slide
6		Desires
7		Time Flies
8		Landed
9		D4L
10		Pain 1993
11		Losses
12		From Florida With Love
13		Demons
14		War

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