In a departure from his recent show of bravado in his beef with Meek Mill, Drake has just dropped a remix and freestyle over the Weeknd’s track, “Tell Your Friends,” that hearkens back, stylistically and lyrically, to a Drake circa 2011—the softer Drake behind “Marvin’s Room” and “Doing it Wrong”. This freestyle is imploringly emotional; addressed to an unnamed love interest, the track begs her to recognize his vulnerability and authenticity.

While the production is near-seamless and the character of his message complements the Weeknd’s laid-back beat, Drake’s lyrics fall disappointingly short and do not measure up to the quality of his vocal performance. Drake throws around clichés with horrifying nonchalance: “Your body insane in person / wanna do special things for you”; “This time is different, you give me purpose.” Each line of this freestyle could be taken separately and used as part of a series of suggestive, sappy Hallmark cards for failing relationships. Though it feels indulgent to speculate as to the subject of Drake’s affection, given the directness of his message and several attempts at wordplay (“the ball is in your court / no defense, nobody’s keeping score”), it seems entirely reasonable to suppose that this freestyle is at least partially addressed to Serena Williams.

This is not to say that the track is entirely devoid of impressive elements. Drake makes an interesting change of rhythm and flow to the freestyle, at times. He closes with a vulnerable admission that he feels lost: “Been thinking ‘bout home actually / Where Roxx has Kim and Mark has Ashley / and Niks has Ezee / And I, I don’t even know what I have anymore.” “Tell Your Friends” feels like an uninspired attempt at Drake’s usual seduction, similar to his early work, but utterly lacking in the same feeling of sincerity.