Like a back-in-the-day Weeknd, Woods spends the early part of the track contemplating the pros and cons of getting faded for the night instead of facing some relationship drama. The rising singer/rapper works well with the extra room, with opener “Sonic Boom” being an open field of synth ambiance and digital drum taps. Wake at Dawn is the second Drake co-signed project from Woods, following last year’s Exis EP. What’s surprising, though, is that the 10-song debut album may well be the most concise and well-crafted collection to come out of the OVO Sound stable in ages. On a surface level, the just-released Wake at Dawn from Brampton, ON-bred Roy Woods seems to be the smallest project of the bunch. Drizzy himself got into the action by releasing his long-awaited, though meekly received VIEWS, and we’ve also got a split project between OVO/OMO crooner Partynextdoor and Chicago’s Jeremih on the way. First, there was the late night swerve of duo Majid Jordan’s self-titled debut, and then came the sensual, mystery-shrouded Sept. Singer/rapper Drake’s grip on modern pop, R&B, and rap has been downright oppressive, with several artists associated with his OVO Sound collective having dropped or announced LPs throughout this first half of the year.
