Mixing downtempo R&B, hip-hop, and soul with introspective, emotionally open lyrics, Drake’s first two studio albums, 2010’s Thank Me Later and the next yr’s Take Care, have been big worldwide successes. Unsurprisingly, the Canadian rapper’s newfound standing as one among hip-hop’s most important crossover artists fed into the aggressive, ultra-confident tone of his third album, 2013’s Nothing Was The Similar.
Using the crest of a wave, Drake had spent a lot of 2012 touring in assist of Take Care, whereas additionally discovering time to start out the document label OVO Sound together with his longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib, and embarking on periods for his subsequent album. With 40 as soon as extra dealing with manufacturing duties, alongside OVO Sound associates Boi-1da, Mike Zombie, and Majid Jordan, Nothing Was The Similar grew to become a darker affair than its predecessors. Over a set of songs that largely eschewed any pop affectations for a dense mixture of eerie synths and street-tough entice beats, Drake, armed with an improved singing voice and peak-performance rapping abilities, unleashed a few of the most compelling and constant vocal performances of his profession.
Lead single “Started From The Bottom,” a brooding rags-to-riches affair replete with spectral piano strains and deep rumbling bass, presaged the brand new route. “Wu-Tang Forever” continued the eerie tone with a sonic tribute to the Staten Island natives. Elsewhere, “Worst Behavior” featured one among Drake’s most menacing vocal turns over tense and scattershot beats, whereas the murky slowed-down samples, submarine sonics, and submerged entice beats of “305 To My City” sound just like the tune was recorded within the depths of the ocean.
On an album typically wanting visitor spots, one among Drake’s heroes, Jay-Z, contributes a memorable verse to the chilling, ethereal “Pound Cake.” Lyrically, the tune was a morose affair, with offended broadsides at former girlfriends, relations, and college buddies, alongside some disillusioned soul-searching and the standard boastful turns. Gentle aid from all this darkness was discovered on the luscious soul of the Sampha-assisted “Too Much,” whereas the heartfelt “Hold On, Were Going Home,” a heat and breezy slice of pop-soul, proved the album’s large crossover hit, reaching No.4 on the US Billboard Scorching 100.
Regardless of its darkish, uncompromising tone, Nothing Was The Similar proved one other big success for Drake. Launched on September 24, 2013, it debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard 200, promoting almost 700,000 copies in its first week of launch. The album made additional worldwide waves for the rapper, charting excessive in his native Canada in addition to within the UK, Denmark, and Australia, and making many end-of-year lists. Arguably essentially the most persistently thrilling album of his profession, for Drake, Nothing Was The Similar greater than lived as much as its title.
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