【搬运译】叉婊Pitchfork评Drake 2020年单曲When to Say When/ Chicago Freestyl

搬运自：微信公众号【评论搬一堆】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整） 

翻译：June Hess

审译：Whitney.L

排版：Lynn Liu

Drake season fast approaches and the pettiness in the air proves it. Before each album, the biggest rapper in the world must step off to the side, speak his mind, and reestablish his superiority. “Dreams Money Can Buy,” “5am in Toronto,” “Summer Sixteen,” “Two Birds, One Stone,” and “Diplomatic Immunity” all served this purpose for their respective albums; he uses these one-offs and loosies to do and say what he can’t on his blockbuster albums. In these pointed moments, he airs grievances, takes pot-shots, addresses rumors, and gives updates on the State of Drake.

又快到Drake的“作品展”时期了，空气中的躁动因子证明了这一点。在每张专辑发行之前，这位全球知名的说唱歌手必须跳脱出去，说出自己的想法，并重新建立自己的优势。“Dreams Money Can Buy”、“5am in Toronto”、“Summer Sixteen”、“Two Birds, One Stone”、“Diplomatic Immunity”，这几首歌都为所属的专辑达到了这个效果。他用这些一次性的东西进行表达，通过这些他说出了自己不能在他的专辑中表达的内容。在这种关键时刻，他会表达自己的不满，拍摄照片，澄清谣言，更新自己的博客内容。

On “When to Say When” and “Chicago Freestyle,” two new songs released together, Drake explains what it’s like to have the Sword of Damocles hanging over his reign. His contemplation of his legacy is complemented by aesthetic choices that wink at his competition; the first song samples JAY-Z’s “Song Cry,” and the second interpolates Eminem’s “Superman.” Much in the vein of past Drake life talks, “When to Say When” is framed as a heart-to-heart, and he always sounds most comfortable in this mode. While he isn’t exactly JAY bringing the song to tears, his precise flow outlines the rap business and underscores his authority by leaning into his wealth as the deciding factor in any dispute (a classic JAY move). “Chicago Freestyle,” in turn, unpacks the run-of-the-mill anxieties and flexes associated with his nightlife, and Drake, who recently took his cape off, is an underrated antagonist, but he doesn’t play the heel nearly as well as ’02 Em used to.

Neither song reaches the apex of last year’s “Omertà,” a track where Drake called Benihana pigeon food and referred to himself as just a body his brothers were living through, like some kind of owl-fitted rap messiah. The lyrical content of these two songs do not reach the heights of these vivid expressions—the closest we get to a quotable line is a moment is when Drake’s lady friend thinks that an expensive check for a dinner date must contain a typo. Drake measures himself against former rap kings on “When to Say When” and “Chicago Freestyle” but comes up short.

在“When to Say When”和“Chicago Freestyle”这两首同时发行的新歌中，Drake解释了达摩克利斯之剑悬在他全盛时期的感受。Drake新专辑的部分灵感来源于他的老对手歌中的一些美学元素。第一首歌模仿了JAY-Z的“Song Cry”，第二首模仿了Eminem的“Superman”。在Drake过去的生活中，“When to Say When”被框定为一种坦诚相见的方式，在这种模式下，他的歌听起来最舒服。虽然他并不是JAY，但这首歌让人想哭，他那些有灵魂的滔滔不绝的话语勾勒出了说唱业，并强调了他的权威，因为在任何争议中，他都将自己的财富作为决定性因素(这是JAY的一个经典举动)。而“Chicago Freestyle”则揭示了与他的夜生活有关的焦虑和浮躁，而最近重新回归的Drake是一个被低估的对手，但怎么说都不如以前了。

这两首歌都没有达到去年那首“Omertà”的巅峰，Drake在那首歌中称红花日本料理也就一般般，说自己为兄弟们而活，自己是戴着个猫头鹰项链的说唱救世主。这两首歌的抒情内容并没有达到这些生动表达的高度，最接近的那一刻是当Drake的女性朋友认为一张昂贵的晚餐支票上一定有一个错别字的时候。Drake在“When to Say When”和“Chicago Freestyle”两首歌上与前说唱之王进行了较量，但最终失败了。