The Singles Jukebox

Do you understand now? Do you understand the sadness Aubrey Graham bears now that he is the 6 God?

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[4.83]

Alfred Soto: Not a song so much as an assemblage of fortune cookie wisdom, phrase that stop short of being maxims, and boasts, “Laugh Now…” exists to deal with the dearth of fresh Drake material. “I’ve never been embraced,” the practiced liar confesses.  
[3]

Ashley John: “Laugh Now Cry Later” is a “better safe than sorry” track from Drake. The light melody is buoyed by generic lyrics. Where Drake usually reacts somewhat to current events, or at least the vibe of the current moment, this is nameless and faceless. 
[4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Much like every tolerable Drake song since 2018, someone else is doing the heavy lifting here. Lil Durk parachutes in and delivers one of the best verses on any Drake song, an 8-bar exultation of the come-up that manages to fit in a shout-out to Atlanta’s best hairdresser and a passing, devastating diss to Tekashi 6ix9ine. It’s a worthy victory lap for Durk, who has finally achieved long-deserved success outside of his native Chicago. It’s a shame that “Laugh Now Cry Later” is surrounded by the most solidly mediocre Drake song possible, a shrug of a track held up only by the hyper-compressed horns of the beat and Drake’s noxious brand of charisma.
[6]

Will Adams: It all sounds so deflated, like balloons sinking to eye level the morning after the party. The horns might have been uplifting, but they’re held in a filter the whole track; the hook’s melody spirals downward; the title is a palliative. Lil Durk breathes some life into the track, but overall, it’s an enervating listen.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: I assume all the talk of ghost towns, of things not lasting, of Drakes past and Drakes lost and waking up not knowing where or what you are or why you care, means “Laugh Now Cry Later” is supposed to sound this empty. Specifically it sounds half-remembered: the horns, but not the surrounding triumph; the beat, but not the bang; less a structure than circling the hook tentatively, ruminatively, because that’s the only structure you can make from this little. It sounds like about four imperial-period Drake songs at once, despite that period being history — like ghosts of 2010-13 that won’t be exorcised. YOLO; they don’t.
[6]

Oliver Maier: Drake is less Jumpman these days than Porky Minch, sealed away inside the Absolutely Safe Capsule, trapped in a never-ending victory lap. No-one will ever defeat Drake, but defeating him doesn’t matter any more. Drake can barely hear the horns signalling his triumph. They sound so muffled, so far away. He can hallucinate a Lil Durk feature to pass the time or throw shots at Kanye, but Drake doesn’t really have chemistry with anyone these days, let alone believable beef. No-one understands him. Not really. Drake exists purely in relation to himself now. Being alone in the universe, isolated from everyone who doesn’t like him, is the closest thing to paradise Drake can conceive of.
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