Personally, I’m “pushin 🅿️”
On 7 January 2023, music fans all over the world were blessed with two new and highly anticipated albums: Gunna’s DS4, and The Weeknd’s Dawn FM. The two albums differ quite significantly in their compositions, the way they sound, the chosen features, and their respective thematic choices. I am a big fan of both Gunna and The Weeknd, so January 7 was a real special day for a music fan like me. But, when two artists drop music on the same day, they frequently fall prey to the same age-old question: “Who’s album is better?”
Generally, this question does not have a clear answer. For all we know, the album that sounds better today might age poorly, or one that seems stale today may explode in a couple of years. However, this is a point-in-time comparison—which one is better as of right now? I will briefly review both albums and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both, in order to determine who, as of now, has released a “better” album. I think it goes without saying, but this is a wholly subjective analysis, and by no means do I claim to be speaking on behalf of the academy. You may hate my reviews, but as with all my articles, my inbox remains open to anyone who wants to chat about it.
Let us begin with The Weeknd’s offering, Dawn FM. The Weeknd is no stranger to odd album rollouts. Before the release of “After Hours,” he was seen in a red suit with a bandaged face. In the lead up to Dawn FM, The Weeknd was seen at events donning makeup to look elderly. Clearly, this was going to be a thematic album, but to what degree? Would we get another partially themed, partially mainstream album like “Beauty Behind the Madness,” or a deeply and entirely thematic offering like “My Dear Melancholy?” Dawn FM is more like the latter, with deeply entrenched themes that radiate throughout the whole album. The songs fit together like puzzle pieces—thematically and sonically—making the listener feel like they are listening to a radio station on a one-way stop to heaven. For example, after an interlude from the one and only Quincy Jones about familial trauma and romantic relationships, The Weeknd launches into “Out of Time,” where he sings about pushing a lover away as a result of trauma.
Musically and sonically, the album is tight and fitted. It feels like the elderly version of The Weeknd on the album’s cover is driving his 1985 Impala into the heavenly sphere while listening to a heavily Michael Jackson and Prince-influenced radio station.
On that point, I should note that Michael Jackson and Prince influences seem to loom throughout the album. Obviously, Quincy Jones helps bring the presence of Michael Jackson, but it is in songs like “Sacrifice” where melodically we see a partial incarnation of Michael Jackson. You can even hear remnants of the “Thriller” outro on the outro of this album, narrated by Jim Carrey. Additionally, songs like “I Heard You’re Married” reveal clear Prince influences, with a splash of Weezy F Baby (Lil Wayne).
Dawn FM is an album that needs to be taken altogether for what it is. The songs sound great on their own, but they sound significantly better as a complete project. The transitions are effortless, and the songs on the track list leak into each other, making for an enjoyable listening experience. Moreover, the prevalent influences of some of the kings of pop music add to the charm of the album and situates in a sort of 1980’s time capsule. The Weeknd rarely misses, and I do not think he did here.
Now, we move to DS4, Gunna’s most recent offering. Gunna has had a big couple of years. His famous mumbling melodies are found all over the musical landscape today. His last album was a lot of fun, but it was not exactly perfect. He has a tendency to let his albums run long, and to allow them to sound cluttered. That being said, he is also partially responsible for some of the biggest hits of the last couple of years, like “Space Cadet” and “Lemonade.” Gunna has “highs and lows”—I would classify DS4 as one of his “highs.”
Thematically, Gunna does not hold a candle to The Weeknd. DS4 is essentially themeless—unless you consider women, watches, money and other luxuries to be a theme. However, Gunna is not The Weeknd—he has never been known for tight thematic cinematic albums. Accordingly, the lack of theme does not harm his album, for that is not what he was trying to do.
Instead, Gunna put together an album of incredible production from some of the best producers in the industry—like Metro Boomin, Wheezy, and Southside—complete with great verses from some of the industry’s biggest names, like Drake, Young Thug, and 21 Savage. Whereas The Weeknd’s offering was tight, clean, thematic, and relatively featureless, Gunna provided the opposite; a themeless album with powerful features on both the rapping and production side that carry the album.
When discussing albums, I believe that one of the most important questions is “How does it sound?” DS4 sounds really, really good—and this is an improvement for Gunna. In the past, he has offered albums with tons of skips; albums that are grossly overpacked with pointless songs. Here, even with a twenty track album, there are minimal skips. Each song is good for what it is—short, melodic and bouncy. With a twenty track album, Gunna did not have much room for error—throwaway songs would stick out like a sore thumb on such a massive album. But, by keeping the songs short and catchy, each one has a distinct personality, and nothing feels like a throwaway.
The bulk of the praise for this album is going to come from it’s producers and features. Gunna put together an all-star lineup for DS4. When dealing with an artist like Gunna, you cannot talk about him without talking about the production. Part of his success comes from being able to melodically float over well-made beat. Neither Metro Boomin, Southside, or any of the other producers on the album let him down. The beats and instrumentals chosen complement Gunna’s flow nearly perfectly. My personal favourite example is on “Alotta Cake,” where the drumline on Metro Boomin’s beat leads right into the beginning of Gunna’s verse.
However, it is the features that led to Gunna nearly outselling the Weeknd in their first week. Young Thug appears twice on the album, bringing back the magic that led “Hot” to become one of the biggest hits of 2020. Thug’s signature flow is quite similar to Gunna’s, though distinct because of Thug’s raspy voice. Consequently, these two sound great together. Thug is also known for having some absolutely crazy lines/bars/verses, but, I cannot repeat those in this newspaper, if I want to remain a student at this school.
The other feature that I would be remiss not to discuss is that of the Toronto native Drake. Perhaps most fascinating about this verse on the album is that he seems to be attempting to mimic Gunna’s flow. This is one of my favorite things about Drake—when he features on songs, he seems to try to mimic the artist’s melodies and flows. This song is no different. Again, I am restricted from talking about this song in depth for my own sake, but if one listens, Drake’s Gunna impression should become evident quickly.
The ultimate question is, as of now, which artist provided the better offering? I think that Gunna did. Dawn FM is a really cool album—thematically it is outstanding, the Michael Jackson and Prince influences only add to its value, and sonically, it is pretty good. Yet, it seems like The Weeknd fell flat on the execution of some of his ideas. Whereas a song like “How Do I Make You Love Me?” sounds like a fresh take on a 1980’s ballad, a song like “Don’t Break My Heart” sounds mildly stale. Similarly, a song like “Best Friends” reveals crazy sonic potential—the instrumental and beat sound fantastic—but falls flat on execution, with lyrics and melodies that sound unoriginal and unimpressive.
Alternatively, DS4 sounds quite good all the way through. Gunna is an artist who could very easily fall into the trap of sounding stale and unoriginal, but Gunna manages to avoid the classification. The beats, though from industry staples, sound fresh and exciting. His melodies feel like they have been rejuvenated, and the features carry the album into the top tier. DS4 is extremely listenable which gives it the edge over Dawn FM, which is also very listenable, but just feels lame sometimes. It is possible that Dawn FM ages better, but that is a question for another day.
As I said before, when talking about music, it is important to remember the most basic question, “Does it sound good?” In this case, they both do, but Dawn FM sounds slightly stale, and DS4 sounds new and full of energy. In this head-to-head, Gunna emerges victorious.