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If You're Reading This It's Too Late

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Inorap (talk | contribs) at 23:25, 5 May 2016 (its a mixtape idiots. even drake considers it one himself.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the Drake album. For the Pseudonymous Bosch novel, see If You're Reading This, It's Too Late.

Untitled

If You're Reading This It's Too Late is the fourth mixtape[3][4][5][6] by Canadian recording artist Drake. It was released through the iTunes Store without prior announcement on February 13, 2015, by Cash Money Records. The physical edition of the project was released by Cash Money as well as OVO Sound and Republic Records.[7] There was a debate whether this project is a mixtape or a studio album, as it was released commercially through his record label, while Drake himself referred to the project as a mixtape.[8][9][10]

It received positive reviews and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with three-day sales of 495,000 copies and 40,000 for online streaming credits, making this Drake's fourth time at the top of the chart. The album also broke Spotify's first-week streaming record with over 17.3 million streams in the first three days.[11] The record was previously held by Drake himself, with his album Nothing Was the Same (2013), with 15.146 million streams in the first week.

Background

In July 2014, Drake announced the title of his fourth studio album to be Views from the 6, on which recording had reportedly not begun.[12] In November 2014, in an interview, Toronto Raptors basketball player DeMar DeRozan mentioned that Drake is intending to release a mixtape for January 2015.[13] On February 12, 2015, Drake released a short film titled Jungle,[14] which featured snippets of new songs such as "Know Yourself" and "Jungle".[15]

In an interview with HipHopDX, DatPiff founder Kyle Reilly revealed that Drake was initially in talks to release If You're Reading This It's Too Late as a free download on DatPiff hosted by DJ Drama, before Cash Money Records intervened.[16] Due to its release via digital download outlets such as iTunes and Amazon Music as well as physically in vinyl and CD formats, contractually it is considered his fourth studio album for Cash Money Records.[17][18]

Release and promotion

On February 12, 2015, the album was tweeted as an iTunes link from Drake's Twitter. It also was uploaded to OVO Sound's official SoundCloud account, but was quickly removed. It was released onto the iTunes Store on February 13, 2015 by Cash Money Records.[19]

Drake hinted on his instagram account of an alternate version of the project by DJ Candlestick and hosted by OG Ron C, titled If You're Choppin' This It's Too Late.[20] This version was later released on April 14.[21] The physical version of the album was also released on April 21, with two bonus tracks "How About Now" and "My Side" in stores as "collector's edition".[22]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[24]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[23]
The A.V. ClubB–[25]
Consequence of SoundB+[26]
Exclaim!8/10[27]
The Guardian[28]
Los Angeles Times[29]
Pitchfork Media8.3/10[30]
Rolling Stone[31]
Spin7/10[32]
The Telegraph[33]

Upon its release, If You're Reading This It's Too Late received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78 based on 33 reviews .[24] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph said "Drake is amongst the most musically and lyrical progressive proponents of his chosen medium, bringing a level of educated artiness and psychological self-awareness to a genre too often reliant on big beats and braggadocio."[33] Eric Zaworski of Exclaim! praised the release's production, writing that it "revels in the hazy drone of the 'Toronto Sound' that OVO's 40 and Boi-1da helped define, with offerings from up-and-comers like Brampton's WondaGurl and PRIME's Eric Dingus rounding it out."[27] Paul Lester of The Guardian said "the former child TV star comes out fighting, amid machinegun fire, complaining about everyone from his peers to his family – but he convinces more as the original sad rapper."[28] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone said "For the first time in his career, Drake doesn't sound like he wants to be remembered as one of the greats. This time, he just is."[31]

Year-end lists

The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.[35]

Publication Accolade Year Rank
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2015 2015
14[36]
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2015
3[37]
40 Best Rap Albums of 2015
2[38]
NME NME'S Albums of the Year 2015
23[39]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015
17[40]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015
25[41]

Awards

Year Ceremony Category Result
2015 BET Hip Hop Awards[42] Album of the Year Nominated
Billboard Music Awards[43] Top Rap Album Nominated
2016 Grammy Awards[44] Best Rap Album Nominated

Track listing

If You're Reading This It's Too Late — CD[45] – digital download[46]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Legend"
PARTYNEXTDOOR4:01
2."Energy"
3:01
3."10 Bands"
  • Graham
  • Samuels
  • Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Jr.
  • Miller
  • Adam Feeney
  • Stephen "Ransom" Hacker
  • Boi-1da
  • Sevn Thomas[a]
2:57
4."Know Yourself"
4:35
5."No Tellin'"
  • Graham
  • Samuels
  • Feeney
  • Hacker
  • Miller
  • Kenza Samir
5:10
6."Madonna"
404:08
7."6 God"
  • Boi-1da
  • Syk Sense
3:00
8."Star67"
  • Graham
  • Hernandez
  • Hacker
  • Shebib
Vinylz4:55
9."Preach" (featuring PartyNextDoor)
PARTYNEXTDOOR3:56
10."Wednesday Night Interlude" (featuring PartyNextDoor)BrathwaitePARTYNEXTDOOR3:32
11."Used To" (featuring Lil Wayne)
WondaGurl4:28
12."6 Man"
2:47
13."Now & Forever"
  • Dingus
  • Prime
4:41
14."Company" (featuring Travi$ Scott)
  • WondaGurl
  • TM88
  • Travi$ Scott
4:12
15."You & the 6"
4:24
16."Jungle"
  • Graham
  • Shebib
  • Samir
  • Gabriel Garzón-Montano
405:20
17."6PM in New York" (Bonus track)
  • Graham
  • Samuels
  • Feeney
  • Thomas, Jr.
  • Samir
  • Boi-1da
  • Frank Dukes[a]
  • Sevn Thomas[a]
4:43
Total length:68:40
If You're Reading This It's Too Late – Physical version (bonus tracks)[45]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
18."How About Now"
  • Ransom
  • Boi-1da
  • Evans
3:55
19."My Side"
  • Graham
  • Samuels
Boi-1da4:40
Total length:76:35
Notes
  • ^a signifies a co-producer.
Sample credits

Charts

Commercial performance

If You're Reading This It's Too Late debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 37,000 copies in its first week.[48] The album also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 535,000 copies in total, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.[49] The mixtape was also streamed 17.3 million times on Spotify, breaking Drake's own record that was made with Nothing Was the Same's debut week.[50] Because of the album, Drake also became the first rapper to top Billboard's Artist 100 chart.[51] As of December 2015, the album has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States.[52]

See also

References

  1. ^ "BBC - Radio 1Xtra - Playlist". Radio 1Xtra. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015.
  2. ^ Trevor Smith (July 10, 2015). "Watch Drake's "Energy" Video On Apple Music". HotNewHipHop.
  3. ^ Markman, Rob (February 14, 2015). "Is If You're Reading This An Album Or Mixtape? Drake Answers The Question". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved December 16, 2015. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  4. ^ Hampp, Andrew (April 13, 2015). "Drake Announces Physical Release Date for 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  5. ^ Rettig, James (February 12, 2015). "Drake Drops Surprise Mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Stereogum. SpinMedia. Retrieved December 15, 2015. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  6. ^ Frydenlund, Zach (February 12, 2015). "Here's Drake's "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" Mixtape". Complex. Complex Media. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  7. ^ "Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Discogs. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  8. ^ Young, Alex. "Surprise: Drake releases new 17-track album If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Consequence of Sound.
  9. ^ Beauchemin, Molly. "Drake Shares New Collection of Music If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  10. ^ Manfred, Tony. "Here's the theory that the new Drake album is actually a brilliant maneuver to get out of his record deal". Business Insider. Business Insider. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
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  12. ^ "Drake Announces Fourth Album: "Views From The 6"". Billboard. July 15, 2014.
  13. ^ Davis, Justin. "A Toronto Raptors Player Dropped Some Hints About an Upcoming Drake Mixtape". Complex. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  14. ^ Robinson, Will. "Drake releases short film Jungle and teases new songs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  15. ^ Geslani, Michelle. "Drake's new short film Jungle is quintessential Drake, features new music — watch". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  16. ^ Stein, Spencer. "Drake's "If Youre Reading This Its Too Late" Counts Toward His Cash Money Contractual Obligation, DatPiff's KP Says". HipHopDX. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
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  18. ^ Records, Cash Money. "DRAKE – IF YOU'RE READING THIS IT'S TOO LATE". Cash Money Records. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
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  20. ^ "ogronc @candlestickem for the town man. Chopped not slopped". Instagram.
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  25. ^ Rytlewski, Evan (February 17, 2015). "Drake leaves a trail of questions on If You're Reading This It's Too Late". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  26. ^ Josephs, Brian (February 16, 2015). "Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  27. ^ a b Zaworski, Eric (February 17, 2015). "Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  28. ^ a b "Drake: If You're Reading This, It's Too Late review – intimate, intense, wistful". February 13, 2015.
  29. ^ "Mortality, fame hang heavy on Drake's 'If You're Reading This'". February 16, 2015.
  30. ^ Jenkins, Craig (February 17, 2015). "Drake: If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  31. ^ a b Vozick-Levinson, Simon (February 17, 2015). "Drake's New Album: If You're Reading This, It's Too Late". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
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  34. ^ http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=16329. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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  38. ^ Timmhotep Aku; David Drake; Mosi Reeves,; Christina Lee; Julianne Escobedo Shepherd; David Turner; Christopher R. Weingarten (December 23, 2015). "40 Best Rap Albums of 2015". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 4, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
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  44. ^ Los Angeles Times Staff (December 7, 2015). "2016 Grammy Awards: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  45. ^ a b "Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  46. ^ "Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late (File, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  47. ^ Trammell, Matthew (March 9, 2015). "River Tiber's "No Talk" Is The Previously Unheard Sample From Drake's "No Tellin'"". The FADER.
  48. ^ Cross, Alan (February 18, 2015). "Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 18 February 2015". Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  49. ^ Caulfield, Keith. "Drake's Surprise Mixtape Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
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  51. ^ Trust, Gary. "Drake Becomes First Rapper to Top Artist 100". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  52. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith. "Adele's '25' Rules as Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2015 in U.S." Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  53. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
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  75. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Music Canada.
  76. ^ http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=certificeringer&page=88
  77. ^ "British album certifications – Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type If You're Reading This It's Too Late in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  78. ^ "American album certifications – Drake". Recording Industry Association of America.
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