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Even though he technically hasn’t released a studio album since 2013, Drake’s star has only risen. For one, the Toronto rapper/pop star has been incredibly prolific following his last official release, blockbuster “Nothing Was the Same,” releasing two stellar full-lengths billed as mixtapes: 2015’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” and collaborative effort with Future “What A Time To Be Alive,” both of which shot to No. 1 on the Billboard album charts. The non-album singles he put out during that time included some of his best songs yet, such as the Meek Mill diss “Back to Back” and the rave-ups “Summer Sixteen” and “0 to 100/The Catch Up.”

Because of that, it was tough to think that “Views,” his long-teased fourth album originally dubbed “Views from the 6,” would do anything but exceed the high bar he’d set these past three years. After listening to all 82 minutes of its comically long runtime, “Views,” even with its often-incredible production, is a step back. Like any Drake release, there are some incredible songs, but it’s comically overstuffed, woefully paced and sometimes kind of boring. I can’t remember a marquee-album drop when I paused the album a third of the way through to go to bed. It certainly didn’t happen with Beyoncé’s masterful “Lemonade.”

Drake’s music is successful in part because he’s made himself the most compelling protagonist in his songs. Capitalizing on emotions and vulnerability since 2011’s “Take Care,” he’s been the rapper with feelings who on “Views” raps lines that verge on goofy (“I group DM my exes. I told ’em they belong to me, that goes on for forever” on “U With Me?”) to resonant (“I miss the feeling of you missing me” on “Redemption”). When he’s not texting former flings or wondering “Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake/You know I love to go there” on “Childs Play,” he’s paranoid about people coming after his success (“My enemies wanna be friends with my other enemies/I don’t let it get to me” on “Hype”) or tracing his steps “back when we couldn’t buy pizza ’cause we were down to pennies” on the Toronto-referencing “Weston Road Flows.” In other words: This is a Drake album.

For a 20-song record, a lot of the tracks stay in an airy, moody mid-tempo range. When multiple songs like that are sequenced together, it makes for a challenging listening experience. It’s why when “Views” has fun, it really succeeds. Besides a silly, geometrically confusing line that an upside-down six is a nine on “9,” the chillwave-inspired beat really shines. “Controlla” has the album’s most memorable hook, and the previously released singles “One Dance” and “Pop Style,” whose album version shockingly omits verses from Kanye West and Jay Z, are all welcome tonal changes from some of the increasingly dour and meandering offerings. If there’s a hit, though, it’s the Rihanna-assisted “Too Good.” Besides those tracks, which only appear on the record’s second half, most of the fun of this record would be to figure out which songs to cut and which ones to keep on your iPhone.

No matter how “Views” is received (early reports suggest it’s already sold 600,000 copies on iTunes alone), Drake has solidified his status as a pop-culture phenomenon. Being a marketing genius, his decision to tack on “Hotline Bling” as a bonus track ensured that its previous streams would be counted as album purchases, thus making it likely the biggest album release of 2016. No matter what, Drake’s won, and the majority of his prior output shows he deserves it. But when given the choice between something like “Views” or the politically and emotionally salient “Lemonade,” I’ll go with Bey every time.

2 stars (out of four)

In concert: Tuesday, July 26, and Wednesday, July 27, at United Center.

@joshhterry | jterry@redeyechicago.com

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