Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Following the release of 2017’s “More Life” mixtape, Toronto-born rapper Drake hinted at a future for himself where music would not be his primary focus. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, the 31-year-old rap giant confessed that he wanted to take six months or a year to himself and do some great films.

It would make sense, since he was a B-list actor on the teen drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation” before he was racking up record-breaking numbers on Spotify and Apple Music. Dipping his fingers back into the entertainment industry could give him a chance to return to his roots while also giving him time to find a new identity as an artist heading into 2018.

That was the impression he gave off, yet not even a month into the new year, a two-song EP entitled “Scary Hours” was released onto all major streaming platforms.

With already more than 60 million streams, doubling the previous mark set by Post Malone with the track “Rockstar,” Drake has shown that he still wants to be part of the conversation and is not ready to take time off yet. Running just under eight minutes long, the EP showcases the Drake that people are most familiar with.

Over atmospheric and tightly produced trap beats, he raps about close relationships, his power in the music industry and the people who want to bring him down. To a casual fan, this is pretty paint-by-the-numbers material from Drake, who, on the surface, appears to be phoning it in for some quick cash. Below the surface, though, this is a very different artist from the one most people discovered from smash hits like “Started From The Bottom” and “One Dance.”

Drake repeats “bad things” on the opening track, “God’s Plan.”

“It’s a lot of bad things that they wishin’ and wishin’ and wishin.’ They wishin’ on me.”

As Drake continues to climb to new heights, arguably becoming the most successful artist in the world, he appears to be getting more paranoid than anything else. It is something that listeners got bits and pieces of on “More Life,” like on “Fake Love,” where he lamented about how people only want to get to know him because of his status. His problems seem to be only continuing to grow, with his new EP painting the vivid picture of a man locked up inside of his penthouse, not knowing who to trust or where to go. 

On “Diplomatic Immunity,” he changes course to gloat about his wealth, power and ability to top the charts even after taking a short hiatus.  With lines like, “Come at me and all you’ll get is the ballistic report” and “Billboard awards, I claimed 13 out in Vegas,” he seems to be reassuring himself that he will always be a dominant figure in the rap scene. With no signs of slowing down, he might be right. But, what is he really trying to prove at this point?

In short, the two tracks on “Scary Hours” are just OK, and that is perfectly fine. The instrumentals are frustratingly generic, but the dark lyrics are enough to keep things interesting and make the EP worth at least one listen. What makes “Scary Hours” stand out is that the rapper that people love to take shots at for being “fake deep” seems to finally be showing his true colors. Keep a look out for a very different kind of project from him in the future.

Photo provided by DrakeVEVO via YouTube.com