“My numbers don’t lie to me, baby”
A month has passed since the Beyonce-like secret release of Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (IYRTITL), and it’s still arguably the hottest thing out right now. The numbers prove this – Drake has sold a shocking 535,000 copies; he has over 17.5 million streams on Spotify, and the ridiculous thing is: IYRTITL is only a mixtape.
In the past, Drake has been trying to prove his worth as the greatest in the game, and the difference with this project? He just is. Drake has charted all 17 tracks of his tape on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. And Drake has matched a feat reached only by the Beatles in 1964 by charting 14 songs on the Billboard Top 100. Let me reiterate something: this is a mixtape – not even his studio album, Views from the Six, expected later this year.
Reppin’ the 6 like no other on the international hip-hop scene, beloved Toronto rapper Drake dropped his latest mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, by surprise on Feb 13.
I was working a few Thursday nights ago when my homie texted: “Yo, you listening to this Drake tape?” I proceeded to freak out, and got as giddy as an adolescent who just had their first few drinks. I ran home after my shift, dimmed the lights, and bumped the whole album straight through. It was incredible.
The first track, “Legend,” like Tuscan Leather on Nothing was the Same, was a statement to the rap game: an assertion that Drake is the best. As the tape progressed, it revealed Drake is not our sentimental sad rapper anymore – he’s something much more. Songs like “10 Bands,” “Know Yourself,” and “Used To,” are going to be bangers constantly heard in clubs, and most likely, every house party you go to until the end of the year. And I’m okay with that.
The production throughout the mixtape is insane: the beat-drops of chilling 808s, complemented by the echoing samples, graced Drake with the weapons to reach the throne. From Canadian producers Boi-1da, 40, and Wundergirl, the tape will have every squad mobbing until View from the Six drops.
The features were strong, too. OVO-signed PartyNextDoor added a sensual break after all the fire from the first nine tracks in “Wednesday Night Interlude.” He also supplied beats he was featured on, as did Travi$ Scott on “Company” — as you can tell by the gothic keys halfway through the track introducing Scott to the ensemble.
The tape is also the most Toronto thing Drake has put out thus far. Allusions to the “six,” (the newest name for Toronto coined by Drake) run rampant through the tape – just like Drake does in the six with his woes. Samples of patois are consistently through the tape – influenced by Toronto’s large West Indies community, and Toronto’s street slang.
The new mixtape is indicative of Drake’s already huge year. It is yet another impressive stamp on Drake’s legacy. And it is another huge step for Toronto’s growing R&B/hip-hop scene. It is straight fire: IYRTITL gets a 6/6 from me. All praises be to the 6 God.