Drake’s new mixtape shows a new side of the artist, which sadly is a pretty boring one.

When Drake released his surprise mix tape, “If Youre Reading This Its Too Late”, – with grammar errors and all – I was excited. I enjoyed his last project, “Nothing Was The Same”, and was glad the Toronto native was so consistent with content.

Drake runs the genre he is in. His blend of R&B and rap; sensitivity; and good public image is not a sign of weakness but an innovative look and style that wouldn’t be terrible to see more often.

Sure, he isn’t the most technical rapper when it comes to lyrics but he has his market cornered and his work never seems too offensive. Thus, people have made fun of him. But who cares.

So this mix tape is released and I am starting to think all the Twitter bullies and memes have gotten to him. The main reason I have this thought is that Drake raps a lot on this album, mostly about himself. For a good majority of this tape, he waxes braggadocio, which wouldn’t be a problem if he did it with flare and style.

Instead, Drake opts for a lazy flow on just about every track. Even when the beat is a straight banger like “6 God”, he still doesn’t match the beat with his flow. On this song, he insists on dragging out every few syllable with this flat tone that makes me wish he would just rap as if he cared.

The two tracks with R&B artist PARTYNEXTDOOR are, honestly, abysmal. Just listen to them.

But that’s the joy of a mixtape. You have the freedom to put out what you like and it doesn’t need to be consistent or have an overall theme. The problem is

Drake wants you to pay $13 to iTunes in order to have it. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the controversy around his label and the urge Drake must feel to put out his fourth and final album on his contract. That may be what he’s doing here. But as an artist, there is some self-respect one should have to put out quality music regardless of the excuse.

There are 17 tracks on the mix tape and not all of them are bad. The closer, “6PM In New York”, is nothing but Drake rapping passionately. He takes shots at Tyga on this song, saying: “Act your own age, not your girls age”. Lines like that tell me that there are parts of Drake’s new personality that I like. He may be fighting back against the haters and not ignoring it anymore.

There are elements here that aren’t bad for Drake. Unfortunately, the artistry and skill in regards to the craft itself seem to be left at the door when entering this tape. Perhaps his actual album, tentatively titled “Views From The 6” will be a slight return to form or a hybrid of both old and new Drake. We will see.

I give this mix tape a 5.5 out of 10.