S. Samuel
More details surrounding Drake's upcoming Thank Me Later album have been revealed including the roles Timbaland and Jay-Z have on his debut.
The rapper is reportedly not concerned with moving big units on his debut.
1. Timbaland produced a track called “Thank Me Now.” 2. Indie pop band Francis and the Lights, who opened for Drake on tour, is featured on one song. “I wanted to take what I love about [their] music and bring it into my world,” says Drake. 3. “Karaoke” deals with the pitfalls of achieving fame at an early age. He recalls how he felt at 15 when his girlfriend told him she couldn’t love a star. “It killed me,” he explains. “I can’t wait till she hears it. She’ll know it’s her.” 4. Jay-Z schools his younger peer on “Light Up.” 5. Drake made this album for music lovers, not for the Billboard charts. “I didn’t make this album for commercial purposes. A lot of the verses are extremely long. I just made it to share with people. I hope they can enjoy.” (Rap-Up)
Drake recently revealed Alicia Keys would be featured on the project.
Drake confirmed Alicia Keys will appear as a guest on his forthcoming debut album during the Los Angeles stop of his Away From Home tour on Thursday night. The Toronto MC broke the news to the crowd as the opening notes of “Fireworks,” slated to be Thank Me Later’s opening track, began to boom from the speakers. “This right here is the first song that you will here when you put that disk in,” Drake said of Thank Me Later, due June 15. “It’s a song with myself and Miss Alicia Keys, it’s called “Fireworks.” “Money just changed everything, I wonder how life without it would go,” he rapped. “From the concrete, who knew that a flower would grow/ Looking down from the top and it’s crowded below/ My 15 minutes started an hour ago.” (MTV)
Producer Drumma Boy talked about working with Drizzy earlier this month.
“In 2008, somebody called me and said, ‘I got an artist I want you to work with.’ I forget who it even was. But they passed my number along and Drake reached out to me and asked me to come to Hot Beats [Recording Studios] in Atlanta. This was when he was first working on his rapping and singing stuff. The first studio session we recorded “Money To Blow.” [Editor’s Note: That track was later used to create Birdman‘s 2009 single of the same name.] Anyway, I always see him out at certain events, so he reached out [a couple months ago] like, ‘Yo man, send me some beats. I’m about to close this album.’ So I did and he just sent me a text out of the blue the other day like, ‘We got another one!’ I responded like, ‘Yo, email it to me, let me hear it,’ but I got no response. So I guess we’ll have to take his word for it. [Laughs]” (VIBE)
Rap veteran Nas recently spoke on Drake’s decision to delay his highly-anticipated debut through June.
“I think a lot of things that’s messed up is if you come out with a record, brand new, and it blows up too big, that could be the worst thing that ever happens to you,” Nas explained in an interview. “I think there’s a lot of new cats coming out that’s not just blowing up but they’re taking their time. Like, we’re waiting on the Drake first album, Drake’s album still hasn’t dropped. It should be dropping any day now but that’s a great thing that it probably didn’t come out last year. He waited, he got into a zone, I think that was smart. So it’s a lot going on that I’m happy about.” (“The Los Angeles Leakers”)
Drake’s Thank Me Later is scheduled to drop Tuesday, June 15th.
Check out a recent Drake interview below:
