THE STORIES BEGIN (WEEK TWO) Drake (Canadian rapper)

So Far Gone, Thank Me Later, and Nothing Was the Same

Drake’s breakthrough came in 2009 with the release of the mixtape So Far Gone and its hit single “Best I Ever Had.” A bidding war between labels soon ensued, and Drake ultimately signed with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, a subsidiary of Cash Money. Later that year the label put out So Far Gone as an EP. It won the Juno Award for rap recording of the year, and Drake was named new artist of the year. His first full-length studio album, Thank Me Later, was released in 2010, catapulting Drake to international stardom. The record was followed by the highly praised Take Care (2011). That album won the Juno Award for rap recording of the year and the Grammy Award for best rap album. Drake’s next studio record, Nothing Was the Same (2013), also took a Juno Award. Those albums, more commercially oriented than his earlier mixtapes, showed the influence of his collaborators, notably Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.

If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Views, and other releases

In 2015 Drake announced via Twitter the surprise release of a 17-track mixtape-cum-album, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Critics praised the record as a return to the personal, emotional, and melodic style of his earliest production. Like his previous releases, it shot to the top of the charts in Canada and the United States, and the album won the Juno Award for rap recording of the year. Later in 2015 Drake and rapper Future released the mixtape What a Time to be Alive. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, as did Drake’s fourth studio album, Views (2016), which featured the memorable singles “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling.” The former became Spotify’s most-streamed single at the time, and the latter garnered Drake two Grammys for best rap song and best rap performance—though in interviews Drake insisted that “Hotline Bling” was not a rap song. He stated, “The only category that [the Recording Academy] can manage to fit me in is in a rap category, maybe because I’ve rapped in the past or because I’m Black.” In 2017 Drake did not submit that year’s release, More Life, for Grammy consideration. The record, which Drake called a playlist, brought together different sounds from around the world. It also featured such up-and-coming talents as British singer Jorja Smith and South African producer Black Coffee on the song “Get It Together.” Drake also declined to submit the record for consideration for the Juno Awards. Commentators noted that, while the Juno Awards’ governing body had honoured him with such awards as rap recording of the year, it had never conferred its most prestigious awards, including artist, single, and album of the year.

Scorpion, Certified Lover Boy, and additional recordings

Drake’s fifth studio album, Scorpion (2018), featured the Billboard Hot 100 single “God’s Plan,” which had first appeared on his EP Scary Hours, released several months earlier. Drake won a Grammy for best rap song for the track in 2019, but the live broadcast cut his acceptance speech short after he criticized the awards. Other tracks on Scorpion respond to the song “The Story of Adidon,” by American rapper Pusha T. Pusha T alleged that Drake was hiding a child that he fathered with artist and adult film star, Sophie Brussaux. In “Emotionless” and “March 14,”Drake acknowledged that he had recently become a father and addressed the challenges of co-parenting (critics largely panned the single “I’m Upset,” however, for its apparent complaint about child support payments).

Subsequent releases included Care Package (2019), a compilation of B-sides, covers, and other tracks; Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020), which featured the Billboard Hot 100 single “Toosie Slide”; and the EP Scary Hours 2 (2021), which included another Billboard Hot 100 track, “What’s Next.” Drake’s sixth record, Certified Lover Boy, was released in 2021. Later that year he withdrew the album and one of its tracks, “Way 2 Sexy,” from consideration for the Grammy Awards for best rap album and best rap performance, respectively. In 2022 Drake released a surprise follow-up, Honestly, Nevermind, which featured more vocalizing and dance club beats than on his previous albums. Shortly after, he debuted the video for the album’s first single, “Falling Back.”