On the former Drizzy was a sensitive Canadian teen TV actor with a passion for sing-songy raps by the latter he became one of his generation’s global icons.īut if we expand out our view of Drake’s career to include everything up through his most recent release, More Life, then we’ll see an interesting shift as it relates to the music industry at large.
With Drake, we saw his music and lyrics develop by leaps and bounds between his first big splash, So Far Gone, and third studio album, Nothing Was the Same. What exactly is a “nerd jock”? And why is it definitely Drake? Explained: why a leaked André 3000 verse has Drake & Kanye fans buzzingĪnd hey, between Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and now Drake, 2022 is already a big year for blockbuster US artists.One of the marks of a great artist is seeing clear progression between albums. But then the pair buried the hatched and even co-headlined a ‘Free Larry Hoover’ benefit concert that was livestreamed on Amazon. Drake had some vague diss tracks on CLB and reportedly leaked an Andre 3000 x Ye collab that was… fire and actually dunked on him in the process? Ye doxxed Drake and called him a “nerd ass jock”. The Certified Lover Boy rollout was also characterised by a much-publicised beef with Kanye West and the release of his album Donda. Drake has released his new album Certified Lover Boy That said, Drake's always been pretty prolific in the gap between 2018's Scorpion and Certified Lover Boy, he released 2019 compilation Care Package, 2020's Dark Lane Demo tapes, and last year's Scary Hours 2 EP. HONESTLY, NEVERMIND follows less than nine months on from Certified Lover Boy, which nabbed Drake his fourth #1 album here in Australia and his 10th consecutive chart-topper in the US. Care Package arrived with little warning, while back in 2015 he released two mixtapes on fans: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late in February, and What A Time To Be Alive - a joint project with Future - the following September. This isn't the first time Drake stealthily dropped a fresh project, either. Even then, 'Liability' fronts a warped vocal over its skittering hi-hats, leaving the 21 Savage joint 'Jimmy Cook's' as the closest thing to a straight up-and-down rap cut. It's only late in the album that we get the more conventional tough Drake. 'Falling Back' travels along on a bubbling dance groove while 'Massive' has a big house piano and vocal loop. It also sounds like the Canadian superstar been taking cues from the club. If you dug 'Passionfruit' (and let's be honest, there's very few ppl who didn't) you'll find a lot to like here. There's lots of room for these moody tracks to really breathe, from the nocturnal vibes of 'Flight's Booked' and the gentle Afropop sizzle of 'Down Hill' to the romantic guitar twanging through the album's longest cut, 'Tie That Binds'. Drake is back in RnB mode, with very little rapping or trap beats and lots of auto-tuned assisted crooning backed warm, spacious beats and keys. Musically, you typically know what you're in for with a Drake release but on first impressions, HONESTLY, NEVERMIND is a nice variation on familiar themes. HONESTLY, NEVERMIND is out on streaming services now. 'Sticky' is also one of the few tracks where Drake raps, with bars that nod to Frank Ocean's luxury Homer brand and pay tribute to late, great fashion designer Virgil Abloh. He also co-produced 'Sticky' which credits Australian singer-producer Ry X (who also released his new album Blood Moon today). The Atlanta rapper also featured on Certified Lover Boy and was recently heard chopping it up with Pharrell and Tyler, The Creator.Īmong the production credits is long-time collaborator Noah '40' Shebib, OVO engineer Noel Cadastre, and Black Coffee, who last hooked up with Drake on 2017's More Life project (on the Jorja Smith-assisted joint ' Get It Together').Įlsewhere, six tracks are credited to Gordo, including 'Currents', which prominently samples a squeaking mattress. It's also largely a solo effort - there's no big name collabs save for the closing track 'Jimmy Cook's', which features 21 Savage. Running at 14 tracks and 52 minutes, it's one of Drake's leanest projects in some time. Just hours after announcing we'd get new Drizzy today, Drake's new album HONESTLY, NEVERMIND has arrived.ĭrake first announced that the follow-up to last year's Certified Lover Boy would be out today (17 June) on his Insta: "7th studio album HONESTLY, NEVERMIND out at midnight." That's US time, meaning the record dropped at 2pm AEST.