From the moment he kicked off “Summer Sixteen” with the bars, “Looking for revenge,” Drake has grabbed 2016 by the jugular and has yet to loosen his firm grip as the most dominant and successful rapper this year.
Following the release of his now platinum selling album Views and his largely successful Summer Sixteen tour, Drizzy just released his latest mini-movie Please Forgive Me, a project that’s similar to his previous, Jungle movie, but with a more elaborate and fictional story that features the visuals for “One Dance,” “Views,” and “Controlla” and a few other records on the album.
While many critics have claimed the mini-movie draws very strong similarities to the film, Indecent Proposal, in this writer’s humble opinion, there is another film that Please Forgive Me also draws some really subtle comparisons. In a lot of ways, the mini-movie is quite similar to one of the most important Hip-Hop films of the 90s, Belly.
Now hol’ up, hol’ up, put your bricks and pitchforks away for a second and allow me to explain. For all intents and purposes, many would argue that Belly was a glorified 90-minute music video rather than a movie — and although it deserves more credit than that. The music video element that Hype Williams brought to the table is there in full force. Although the plot of the 1998 film and Please Forgive Me are completely different, there some very subtle and distinct elements about Drake’s amazing work that can lead to some comparisons if you look close enough such as the Jamaican/Dancehall influence, crime narratives, and so much more.
His ambitious project not only amplifies everything he has attempted to do with Jungle, and the videos for “Hold On We’re Going Home” and “Find Your Love”, but it convincingly re-opens the doors back to his long neglected acting career and could potentially set up a really good film for him in the future (an action movie hopefully).
Without further ado, here are five important elements that Please Forgive Me draws from the 1998 classic Hip-Hop film Belly.
