By Sam Saslow
Drake recently teased a video on his Instagram promoting and revealing the date of his upcoming album, called Certified Lover Boy. Before Drake drops another “classic album,” let’s look back at his discography thus far, only including albums on major streaming platforms, such as Apple Music and Spotify.
The first record we’ll be looking at is So Far Gone, Drake’s first breakout mixtape released in 2009. This mixtape has a singing and r&b style/vibe, reflecting most of Drake’s early work.. The major hit on this mixtape, Best I Ever Had, was Drake’s breakout song, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape features Drake’s successor and someone who brought him into the rap game, Lil Wayne, and also features big artists, such as Lykke Li and Trey Songz. Overall, So Far Gone is not an amazing EP but has some pretty good songs besides Best I Ever Had, like Ignant Shit featuring Lil Wayne and Housantlavegas.
The next album we’ll look at is Thank Me Later, a personal favorite of Drake’s early work. Thank Me Later has great memorable songs, such as Over, Find Your Love, and Thank Me Now. This album has more of an aggressive flow from Drake compared to So Far Gone but still has an r&b feel. The album also features major artists such as Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, and Alicia Keys.
We’ll now look at Take Care, Drake’s sophomore studio album released in 2011. Take Care is full of influential and great songs, such as Marvins Room, which is the go-to song to listen to when you’re sad, and The Motto featuring Lil Wayne, which talks about living life to the fullest. Take Care debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 upon release. This album truly showed people how talented Drake is and had tons of hits, highlighted by Headlines, a fan favorite.
After taking a two-year break, Drake released Nothing Was The Same. The album reflects on the journey Drake has gone through to be in the position he is today. This is evident on the cover and deluxe cover where Drake looks at himself as a baby. This album pretty much has “no misses” and only great songs. The outro Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2, one of the most anticipated songs with Jay Z, is arguably the best song on the album. Nothing Was The Same has major hits, such as Started From The Bottom and Hold On, We’re Going Home. This is my favorite Drake album because it really shows all of Drake’s flows and how versatile he can be. The album has amazing features and is just overall Drake’s best record.
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is arguably his best album. IYRTITL, Drake’s fourth mixtape, was a surprise release in February 2015. IYRTITL has very few features but that doesn’t take away from how great the album is. Drake raps over beats with trap drums, which were very hot at the time, evident in 10 Bands. IYRTITL has more of an experimental feel to it, or at least for Drake. The three-album run with Take Care, Nothing Was The Same, and IYRTITL is said to be Drake’s prime.
Following IYRTITL is What A Time To Be Alive, a collaboration album with Future. The collaborative project is in large part produced by Metro Boomin, a popular rap producer. The album was released in the same year as IYRTITL, making 2015 a two-album year for Drake. Jumpman is the most popular song off the album where Drake and Future trade verses. WATTBA is a short 11 song project.
In 2016, a year later, Drake released Views, a highly anticipated album. Following the summer 2015, including beef between Meek Mill and Drake, many people were looking forward to this beef continuing on the album. Views was originally titled Views From The 6, referencing the 6th district in Toronto where Drake is from. Regardless, Views still has a big Toronto influence, especially with the cover of the album being Drake sitting on the famous CN tower in Toronto. Some fans still argue if this was Drake’s last solid album.The next album is More Life, a very overlooked album. More Life had a great array of features, such as Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, and Young Thug. Most of Drake’s projects are very long, including More Life, a 22 song album. More Life debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and stayed there for three weeks.
Scorpion, Drake’s most recent studio album, has an A side and B side. The A side is more of a rap feel, while the B side is r&b. Similar to Views, Scorpion was released following a beef with Pusha T and Kanye West. In Scorpion, Drake reflects on how he has not told the world about his kid, which Pusha T exposed to the world on his diss record The Story Of Adidon. Scorpion was released during the summer and had multiple hit songs, such as Nonstop and In My Feelings.
Finally, Drake’s most recent mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes. I will not be going over Care Package, which was a project of previously released Drake songs. Dark Lane Demo Tapes featured songs, some already released, and some which were new. Released in the midst of quarantine, Dark Lane Demo Tapes had features from Playboi Carti, Future, and Chris Brown. Although it wasn’t a complete album, fans were satisfied with the project.
Throughout Drakes discography he has made some very amazing and mediocre projects. Many are anticipating his upcoming album Certified Lover Boy in January 2021.