Gently (song) explained

Gently
Type:song
Artist:Drake featuring Bad Bunny
Album:For All the Dogs
Released:October 6, 2023
Genre:
Length:2:13

"Gently" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his eighth studio album For All the Dogs (2023). It features Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and was produced by Gordo, Oz and Nik D. It is Drake's third collaboration with Bad Bunny, following 2018's "Mia" and 2020's "Loyal (Remix)" with PartyNextDoor.

Composition

"Gently" is a reggaeton[1] [2] song inspired by Latin trap.[3] It finds Drake rapping in both English and Spanish. The song is written in the key of B♭ major with an initial tempo of 70 beats per minute, later transitioning to 108 BPM.

Critical reception

Billboards Kyle Denis ranked the track as the sixteenth best track on the album.[4] Denis wrote that the track isn't "particularly memorable in the context of the full album".[4] The song received mostly negative reviews from music critics, who particularly criticized Drake's performance in Spanish. Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Pitchfork commented "Bad Bunny sounds like he dialed in his verse from the Sprinter en route to the Gucci show while Drake deploys his best seventh-grade Spanish on a dembow beat—('My broski Benito, he needs a bonita,' et cetera)—and yet it's still a high point far away from Drake's darkness."[5] Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian stated the song "is downright goofy, Drake slipping between Spanish-language rapping and fake-Spanish-language rapping like the Puerto Rican superstar's cartoonish sidekick."[6] NME's Luke Morgan Britton wrote "Even the Latin-infused 'Gently', basically Drake-doing-Dembow, feels like a cynical marketing ploy that not even Bad Bunny's effortless cool can save."[7] Louis Pavlakos of HipHopDX commented the song "is Drake's second attempt at making reggaeton but he sounds lost singing in Spanish alongside Bad Bunny." Slant Magazine's Paul Attard described Drake as "poorly rapping in Spanglish"[8] and The Line of Best Fit's Josh Herring cited Drake's "awful Spanish" in the song as one of the album's "moments that slip under the rug".[9]

Shahzaib Hussain of Clash responded positively to the song, writing "the Spanglish reggaeton heat of 'Gently' is also Drake at his sinuous, shapeshifting best."[10]

Charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 94
Australia Hip Hop/R&B (ARIA)[12] 37
Greece International (IFPI)[13] 16
Lithuania (AGATA)[14] 63
Luxembourg (Billboard)[15] 18
UAE (IFPI)[16] 20

Notes and References

  1. Drake - For All The Dogs. Clash. October 6, 2023. October 23, 2023. Hussain. Shahzaib. October 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021032/https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/drake-for-all-the-dogs/. live.
  2. Web site: Pavlakos . Louis . Drake's 'For All The Dogs' Is Another Troll Bait Effort That's Quite Mid . . 23 October 2023 . October 9, 2023.
  3. Web site: Reeves . Mosi . Drake Sounds A Little Tired of Being Drake On ‘For All the Dogs’ . . 23 October 2023 . October 6, 2023.
  4. Drake’s ‘For All the Dogs’: All 23 Songs Ranked. Denis. Kyle. Billboard. October 6, 2023. August 13, 2024. October 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231006194421/https://www.billboard.com/lists/drake-for-all-the-dogs-best-songs-ranked-slime-you-out/calling-for-you-feat-21-savage/. live.
  5. Web site: Drake: For All the Dogs Album Review. Pitchfork. Shepherd. Julianne Escobedo. October 9, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  6. Web site: Drake: For All the Dogs review – repetitive rap titan needs new tricks. The Guardian. D'Souza. Shaad. October 9, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  7. Web site: Drake – ‘For All The Dogs’ review: banger-less, bitter and deeply mid. NME. Britton. Luke Morgan. October 9, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  8. Web site: Attard. Paul. October 9, 2023. Drake For All the Dogs Review: A Clownish Tribute to Chauvinism. Slant Magazine. October 23, 2023.
  9. Web site: Herring . Josh . DRAKE "For All The Dogs" . . 23 October 2023 . October 9, 2023.
  10. Drake - For All The Dogs. Clash. October 6, 2023. October 23, 2023. Hussain. Shahzaib. October 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021032/https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/drake-for-all-the-dogs/. live.
  11. The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 16 October 2023. The ARIA Report. Australian Recording Industry Association. 1754. 4. October 16, 2023.
  12. Web site: ARIA Top 40 Hip Hop/R&B Singles Chart. Australian Recording Industry Association. October 16, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  13. Web site: Digital Singles Chart (International) . 2023-10-24 . IFPI Greece. https://web.archive.org/web/20231024235652/https://www.ifpi.gr/digital_iel.html. October 24, 2023.
  14. Web site: 2023 41-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. October 13, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  15. Drake Chart History (Luxembourg Songs). Billboard. October 23, 2023.
  16. Web site: UAE: 2023 - W41 - 10/06 to 12/10. The Official MENA Chart. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. June 8, 2024.

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