User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
What A Time To Be Alive [Mixtape] Image
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 120 Ratings

  • Summary: Released exclusively first on Apple Music, the collaborative between Drake and Future was recorded over six days and features production from Metro Boomin.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. 83
    In the end, What a Time reminds us that music is best when it’s enjoyed when in the company of others. It’s a project that demands that the listener live vicariously through it and looks to give hope through music to those willing to listen. Nothing more, nothing less.
  2. Sep 23, 2015
    80
    The project gives fans an answer to the hypothetical of what a full album between Drake and Future would sound like, right now, in 2015. It’s cutting and honest and self-congratulatory and vindictive. It’s fantastically decadent and brutally real at the same time.
  3. Sep 22, 2015
    70
    What a Time to Be Alive is not the best album of 2015, but it is the album that best defines 2015 so far.
  4. Oct 20, 2015
    70
    Although it fails to live up to the internet created hype, its highs outweigh its lows making it an impressive body of work especially if it was made in just six days.
  5. What A Time To Be Alive is ultimately the kind of release that will be relegated to curio status in the near future. It doesn’t hold a candle to the strength of either rappers best work, and for Future in particular its overall quality feels like a steep dip from the highs of his most recent run.
  6. Sep 25, 2015
    60
    While this project will likely infiltrate the Serato of many a nightclub DJ, there's little--outside the three or four cohesive, codeine-fuelled joints surprisingly carried mostly by Future--that reaches the potential of what What a Time to Be Alive could have been.
  7. 42
    There’s very little evidence here that makes the case for either as the game-changing superstar he actually is. Future comes off particularly blasé, falling repeatedly into the cliché version of himself that is all mealy-mouthed strip-club crooning.... Drake sounds only slightly more engaged.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 16
  2. Negative: 4 out of 16
  1. Oct 11, 2015
    10
    This mixtape was pretty decent. It was created in a very short time and it is of good quality. Metro Boomin did an awesome job at producingThis mixtape was pretty decent. It was created in a very short time and it is of good quality. Metro Boomin did an awesome job at producing the tracks, the beats are very dope and catchy. Although you can't really understand what Future is saying(not that anyone expected that from him), his voice matches perfectly with the beats. Drake's verses sometimes were pretty disappointing but at his freestyle at the end he drops some nice bars. Expand
  2. Jan 13, 2016
    8
    The mixtape is great. Obviously it did not live up to the hype which was actually very hard to accomplish. However most songs are bangers andThe mixtape is great. Obviously it did not live up to the hype which was actually very hard to accomplish. However most songs are bangers and both drake and future come up with a bunch of great flows over -once again- outstanding metro boomin production. Expand
  3. Sep 22, 2015
    8
    It's a dope mixtape overall with a few stand out tracks. Nothing ground breaking or game changing, but Drake and Future have a nice chemistryIt's a dope mixtape overall with a few stand out tracks. Nothing ground breaking or game changing, but Drake and Future have a nice chemistry throughout and there's a proper balance of trap bangers and that ambient ovo sound. Expand
  4. Sep 26, 2015
    6
    WATTBA, is a well put together mixtape. Although the underlying message behind songs is about friendships and fake friends, the tracks on theWATTBA, is a well put together mixtape. Although the underlying message behind songs is about friendships and fake friends, the tracks on the mixtape have well put together production, which backs up for the somewhat shallow lyrics. There are many bangers on this mixtape, shouts out to Metro Boomin for the production. Most tracks felt like throwaways from DS2 and IFYTITL. This project was way too overhyped, if it was bit low-key, the ratings would of been slightly better.

    Light 6(god)/10

    Although I am exited for views from the 6. I expect a lot from Drake.
    Collapse
  5. Sep 22, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Favourite Songs: Diamonds Dancing, I'm the Plug, Jumpman
    Least Favourite Songs: Digital Dash, Big Rings
    It's cool that Drake and Future actually made a whole album together but it wasn't exactly surprising when I didn't like it. Most Drake and Future releases can be pretty hit and miss (usually it's the latter) and Future has been, in my opinion, going with quantity over quality this year. I did a pretty negative review of his last album 'DS2'- which was only released what was it like 2 months ago- and although I like this a lot more I think it still suffers from the same problems. If you wouldn't call yourself a Future fan this project is definitely not for you because it sounds like a Future album with songs featuring Drake and Drake doesn't really bring all that much to the table. I think I preferred Future on here. I mean apart from lots of subliminals towards Meek Mill and a couple of great verses he really doesn't bring much to the album. I don't really have much to say about the actual album, I guess it's ok, it starts off **** awfully but it recovers. 'Diamonds Dancing' is a song I'll definitely come back to the production on it is just so nice when the saxophone/horn/whatever the **** it is kicks in during the hook. 'Jumpman' was kind of catchy as well and 'I'm the Plug' had a good beat.
    Will I Return To It: To a couple of tracks
    Expand
  6. Jul 28, 2019
    3
    This album was just truly abysmal. It had nothing to bring to the table. Drake and Future had terrible chemistry, boring beats, andThis album was just truly abysmal. It had nothing to bring to the table. Drake and Future had terrible chemistry, boring beats, and half-hearted verses. I don't go back to anything on here.

    Light 3.
    Expand
  7. Sep 26, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you're listening to this, it's too late...

    Before you waste your iTunes gift card, please consider the following.
    To open up I would like to say, the only thing keeping this "mixtape" from an absolute stone cold zero was the production. Although it is cringe worthy to give the producers (who obviously put more time and effort into the project than either of the two artists did) credit for only one tenth of the entire projects ratings, it's almost impossible to move past the fact that both "rappers" ( I use that term loosely) bring the entire project to a halt.

    Song by song ratings:

    Digital Dash - Opens up with the muffled sounds of Future attempting to string together some catchy verses that pertain almost entirely to (you guessed it) drugs, money and girls. Future sounds more like a nervous, mumbling middle schooler with his eyes to the ground reading his first oral presentation. Sorry Future but mumbling won't help people realize that you can't write or deliver. But then, just as we thought all hope was lost, Drake jumps in with an equally disappointing, repetitive verse. Unfortunately for the mixtape, the 6 God did not rectify the situation.

    Big Rings- It's obvious Wheelchair Jimmy has always been grateful for his team, in his eyes they all deserve big rings, and... that's about all we hear from the ex-Degrassi star. If you thought you were going to get away from the autotune this time... think again, leave it to Future to mask his voice (Once again) and deliver some less than impressive lines about murdering, kidnapping and carjacking.

    Live From the Gutter- An attempt for Future to illustrate his "Come Up", once again a typical concept painted with an autotuned brush, presented with no standout lines. Hello Drake, in 165 words, you managed to tell us what? How had you an illustrious dating history? We know you appreciate your boys and love to tell us about your female history. But seriously, Mia Khalifa obviously doesn't care that you're live from the gutter, she's still not into you.

    Diamonds Dancing- The common consensus is that this is the best song on the album. Which is understandable considering the audience it's appealing to. A repetitive song with a slow strip club-like beat. This song is perfect for getting a lap dance and sipping on some liquor.. but that really about it.

    Are you seeing a pattern here? Or is it just me... If you were hoping for some magical climax in this album, I'm sorry but you will be sorely disappointed. From Scholarships to Drakes 30 for 30 Freestyle, the rest of the album is about as bland and generic as the previous four songs. So instead of wasting your valuable time reading a song by song review for the next 7 tracks, I'll save you some time and hopefully money and tell you exactly why this album should not have sold 350,000 copies in the first week.

    Concept- 2015 has been a year filled with amazing, unprecedented classics that can only be described as timeless. Albums that represent what rap truly is. I understand that each album is attempting to appeal to a particular audience through the messages it conveys and the beats those meaning are carried over, but for an album to be successful in the minds of critics it needs a concept. After listening to this album many times over and digesting it for a week, I've come up short in my attempt to find a concept. All 11 tracks seem to be redundant and poorly pieced together from a lyrical point of view. No meaning past the face value of the words, both Drake and Future have not strayed from their comfort zone. For someone who is rumoured to not even write his own lyrics, Drake who is considered at the top of the game now by many mainstream rap fans is particularly disappointing. Each song carries the same message, and no track strays from it. We understand you have money, we understand you think you had a tough life, and most of all we understand you have girls in your give us something new.

    "Real Rap" is simply an opinion, therefore I am entitled to my own. Drake and Future are not rappers, they are entertainers. The lack of variety and absence of meaning to me just goes to show how much these two actually care about their craft. If the rumours are true, and this only took 6 days to create, I can't express in words how disappointed I am with Drake and Future. It seems that these rushed albums are more about financial gain, than actually producing a quality soundtrack.

    What A Time To Be Alive is nothing more than a representation of the apathy and lack of interests artist have towards rap. Lyrics and concepts are the foundations of any good musical creation, but this mixtape offers nothing but redundancies in both of those categories.

    1/10, I'm glad I did not support this mediocracy but actually purchasing the mixtape, and I hope you all follow suit. Give credit where credit is due, these two have done nothing special in their careers and this mixtape just reinforced that fact.
    Expand

See all 16 User Reviews