I’m not a huge fan of Drake, he’s alright, I’m just not that bothered about his tracks. That was until I heard “Marvin’s Room”. I’m sure this track is going to litter all the end of year lists, so this won’t be the first or last piece written about it
Drake - Marvin's Room (Young Money)
I’m not too bothered on the “Woe is me, being famous is so hard” subject matter, but the atmosphere created is amazing. Producer Noah “40” Shebib (who was a child actor in Goosebumps, children’s-horror-tv-series fact fans) has really pulled it out the bag. I’m guessing Drake is meant to be drunk in this track, so the real dark, mournful vibe that 40 has applied to this fits perfectly in my opinion. The lack of a rigid drum structure adds to the almost dreamlike effect the pads create, and add some sweet bass just to make things even better. And everyone loves a sample, so the snippets of phone calls included work really well for me, adding a real back and forth effect to the whole thing.
Promisingly, a spate of impressive remixes have popped up, and I’m not surprised. The spacious, sparse nature of the song lends itself to subtle changes. Check out Shlohmo’s Thru Tha Floor Remix:
Drake - Marvin's Room (Shlohmo's Thru Tha Floor Remix) (Dub)
Shlohmo’s remix adds more groove to the track, with a more organised drum beat, adding reverb-y snares and occasional snipped breaks, with some laid-back synths that grow into the track as it goes on. A sick remix indeed.
Another remix from a WeDidItCollective member, D33J, with his 6am remix:
Drake - Marvin's Room (D33J 6am Remix) (Dub)
D33J applies some real chilled LA vibes to this, alongside a tonne of reverb and some Blade Runner-esque synths halfway through. Another top remix.
Here’s another remix, although this is of the less impressive JoJo cover/remix/whatever you wanna call it. It’s still got Drake in, just not as much. This one is by producer Crypt:
JoJo feat. Drake - Marvin's Room (Crypt's Refix) (LifeCrushed)
This one is on a ghostly Deep House tip. Thudding, repetitive 4x4 drums are complimented by some distant piano that makes occasional appearances. Not as keen on the vocals on this one, but still, it’s a good track, and another good remix.
There are A LOT of remixes of Marvin’s Room around, I checked on Soundcloud, there’s 500+. Are the majority of them bare dog shit? Probably. Will Drake ever get back on a sound like this again? Maybe. Is Marvin’s Room one of the tracks of the year? Definitely.
Drake - Marvin's Room (Shlohmo's Thru Tha Floor Remix) Free Download
Drake - Marvin's Room (D33J 6am Remix) Free Download
JoJo feat. Drake - Marvin's Room (Crypt's Refix) Free Download (as part of the awesome Life Crushed Favored 2 compilation)