Album Review: Drake – “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”

By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –

Last Thursday, Toronto rap god Drake out-paced the 24-hour media cycle when he dropped his new mixtape-cum-album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. If you were just glancing at your social media feeds, it certainly was far too late. The masses flocked and the work itself spoke volumes, as the Internet audience inundated Twitter newsfeeds, Billboard social and streaming charts, with an overwhelming 500,000 units in the first week of release and breaking Spotify records as the most streamed album in a debut week.

Categorizing If You’re Reading This is a part of the polarized reactions. An interlude between Nothing Was the Same and his upcoming Views From the 6, the mixtape continues the minimalist spirit from Drake’s previous mix tape So Far Gone, but a series of unique production notes offer an exciting glimpse into his next effort. Merging the dark-hued tones with Drake’s spitfire take on standard tropes of women “troubles”, career achievements and crew love results in a hybrid body of work. If You’re Reading This… won’t clarify Drake’s vision for any newcomers, but it articulates his mindset.

Rumors suggest that Drake was required to fulfill a contractual obligation of four albums for his likely soon-to-be former record label, explaining the attached price for access to his surprising digital gift, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. While the sheer size of seventeen songs and polished productions tempts many to call it an album, Drake himself refers to it as a mix tape in his Thank You notes and it speaks volumes to an impending departure from Birdman and the YMCMB team, alongside Drake’s mentor Lil’ Wayne and likely Nicki Minaj.

Drake’s output has remained in sonically familiar territory throughout his ascension with moody, swirling production from long-time producers Noah “40” Shebib and Boi-1da.. On If You’re Reading This…, the production strings together one song after the other in occasionally repetitive and underwhelming patterns. Initially, Drake’s rhymes reflect that sense of fatigue as he never ventures far from his worn self-mythologizing territory. He deems his success as unparalleled and charts himself down in history books on opening track “Legend”, a sentiment later echoed on “No Tellin’” when he sharply requests  “Please don’t speak to me like I’m that Drake from 4-years ago.” That Drake was riding off his debut Thank Me Later with lyrics that reflected the rapper traversing fame, love and the unprecedented expectations of pleasing his vast audience.

Today’s Drake is less concerned with the latter; he navigates those same subjects and more with a defensive bravado that gives life to much of the first half of If You’re Reading This…  On the appropriately-titled “Know Yourself”, an aggressive declaration of Drake’s dominating hustle with the chorus that serves up the newest entry to Drake aphorisms: “I was running through the 6 with my woes!”. Even the term “woes” is more self-assured a Drake re-appropriation as the people in his life who are “Working on Excellence.”

The handful of people involved on If You’re Reading This… certainly meet his criteria for excellence. The turning point comes on “Preach”, an up tempo moment with production and cameo from PartyNextDoor who’s flow is just as swift andsophisticated as Drake’s. Contrasting that commercial appeal is 18-year-old, Mississauga-based Wondagurl, whose production on “Used To” is a prickly escalating hip-hop beat upon which Drake calls out the shifty personalities heencountered in his life pre- and post-fame, a common refrain across the one-hour-long mixtape.

The targeted shots towards Birdman and YMCMB on “Star67” and “Now & Forever” are aligned with the existence of If You’re Reading This, a bittersweet reflection on being cheated and having to say goodbye to what was an integral part of Drake’s career. He croons “I’m leaving, I’m gone…I don’t wanna sit at home, I gotta get where I’m going / I’m afraid I’mma die before I get where I’m going,” over Eric Dingus and Jimmy Prime’s captivating ambience – a punctuating, emotional pause that doubles as a ballad. It is moments like these that prove that Drake is at his strongest at his most focused.

Alhough he calls out to Toronto in several instances, including the personalized anthem “6 God”, “6 Man” and “Jungle”, the most poignant of his hometown narratives is manifested in an open-ended conversation with his mother on “You&the 6”. Recognizing his mother’s on-going concern for his well-being in the spotlight, Drake clearly lays down his manifesto where he accepts that sacrificing downtime and putting a strain on his personal relationships are the price of entry for his career pursuits.

He pledged allegiance to mantra years ago, and his dedication is unwavering in the closing “6PM in New York”. In this near-five minute rant, Drake stirs up a heated pot, hitting back at Tyga for his comments in Vibe Magazine and proposing that he should join Jay Z and Kanye West in the hip hop monarchy.

Forget the vulnerability run-through; this is an insult as much as it is an invitation extended to those who would rather serve up a left hook in rumors and petty comments than hone their craft and career. Dropping If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late in the mixtape/album realm, Drake is already miles away from that path. It will be interesting to see if anyone will go running after him.

Essential Tracks: “You & the 6”, “6PM in New York” and “Preach”