If You're Reading This It's Too Late Explained

If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Type:mixtape
Artist:Drake
Cover:Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late.png
Border:yes
Alt:Handwriten text reading "If You're Reading This It's Too Late". At the bottom, two hands are clasped forming a prayer hand with a number "6" written next to it.
Genre:Hip hop
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:Nothing Was the Same
Prev Year:2013
Next Title:What a Time to Be Alive
Next Year:2015

If You're Reading This It's Too Late is the fourth mixtape by Canadian rapper Drake, released on February 13, 2015 without prior announcement by OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money and Republic Records. The mixtape was produced by Drake's longtime collaborators 40 and Boi-1da, as well as labelmate PartyNextDoor, among others. Features include PartyNextDoor, Travis Scott, and Lil Wayne.

If You're Reading This It's Too Late received positive reviews and debuted atop the US Billboard 200, moving 535,000 album-equivalent units its first week. This achievement marked Drake's fourth time at the top of the chart. The mixtape also broke Spotify's first-week streaming record with over 17.3 million streams in the first three days. It was previously held by Drake himself, with his album Nothing Was the Same (2013), with 15.146 million streams in the first week. The album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards. In 2020, the album was ranked 367th on Rolling Stones updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Background

In July 2014, Drake announced the title of his fourth studio album to be Views from the 6, upon which recording had reportedly not begun.[1] In November 2014, in an interview, Toronto Raptors basketball player DeMar DeRozan mentioned that Drake was intending to release a mixtape in January 2015.[2] On February 12, 2015, Drake released a short film titled Jungle,[3] which featured snippets of new songs such as "Know Yourself" and "Jungle".[4]

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.[5] 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.[6] [7] The album's cover art was done by Canadian artist Jim Joe.[8]

Release and promotion

On February 12, 2015, the album was posted as an iTunes link from Drake's Facebook. 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.[9]

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.[10] This version was later released on April 14.[11] 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".[12]

Critical reception

If You're Reading This It's Too Late was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the mixtape received an average score of 78, based on 33 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Tim Sendra of AllMusic said, "It makes for an album that's hard to love right away, but if you stick with it, is a rewarding listen." Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club said, "Drake may not have an hour's worth of great songs here, but he does have an hour's worth of thoughts he needs to get off his chest." Neil McCormick of The Daily 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." Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly said, "Late is hardly a throwaway. In fact, it might be his most consistently rewarding full-length yet." 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."[13] 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."

Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times said, "The 17 tracks read like a fed-up farewell note penned in Drake's typically introspective, first-person style. It's so fresh the ink's still wet: bracingly honest and filled with observations about the darkness just outside the circle of the spotlight." Kevin Ritchie of Now said, "Drake is increasingly astute at reframing hip-hop braggadocio about wealth and competition as a kind of existential crisis through telling--but now familiar--details about his life ("I got two mortgages $30 million in total") and subtle uses of melody and atmosphere."[14] Craig Jenkins of Pitchfork said, "On If You're Reading This, all of this chest beating is delivered over the most darkly hypnotic beats Drake's graced since So Far Gone." 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." Andrew Unterberger of Spin said, "Too Late definitely scans as a transitional work, a transfixing moment-in-time sort of recording that sees an unprecedentedly fortified Drake firing off paranoid and power-drunk thoughts from his basement, sounding even lonelier than he does than when he specifically talks about feeling lonely."

Claire Lobenfeld of Fact said, "It's Too Late is a woozy, scattershot thing--Late Night Drake, if you will."[15] Jim Farber of New York Daily News said, "The album ends up seeming more like a stop-gap than a surge ahead. For the first two-thirds, Drake relies on his usual sing-song style, stoking interest only with his inventive stretches in phrasing.... Otherwise, cooler hooks, melodic flashes of R&B, or great variation can be hard to find."[16] Alex Denney of NME said, "For all the music's cagey intelligence, Drake sounds like the kind of guy who comes sauntering out the traps in a 100m race and immediately breaks out into a victory lap, pausing only to remonstrate with hecklers." Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews said, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late isn't that good.... There are definitely some songs that have commercial potential that I don't hate, and though I'd rather hear Drake rapping than singing, "Jungle" seems like the kind of track that with a few choice edits could get radio play."[17]

Rankings

Publication! scope="col" class="unsortable"
ListRank
The GuardianThe Best Albums of 2015
NMENMEs Albums of the Year 2015
PitchforkThe 50 Best Albums of 2015
The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s
Rolling Stone50 Best Albums of 2015
40 Best Rap Albums of 2015
500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time
StereogumThe 50 Best Albums of 2015

Industry awards

Year! scope="col"
CeremonyCategoryResult
2015BET Hip Hop AwardsAlbum of the Year
Billboard Music AwardsTop Rap Album
Polaris Music PrizePolaris Music Prize
2016Billboard Music AwardsTop Rap Album
Grammy AwardsBest Rap Album

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.[18] The mixtape also debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 535,000 album-equivalent units, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.[19] The mixtape was also streamed 17.3 million times on Spotify, breaking Drake's own record that was made with Nothing Was the Sames debut week.[20] Because of the mixtape, Drake also became the first rapper to top the US Billboard Artist 100.[21] As of December 2015, the mixtape has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States.[22] On October 27, 2023, the mixtape was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over four million units.

Track listing

Credits were adapted from the mixtape's liner notes.[23]

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] 188

Year-end charts

Chart (2015)! scope="col"
Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 57
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27] 5
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 49
US Billboard 200[29] 4
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[30] 1
Chart (2016)! scope="col"
Position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[31] 29
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[32] 83
US Billboard 200[33] 35
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34] 19
Chart (2017)! scope="col"
Position
US Billboard 200[35] 86
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[36] 69
Chart (2018)! scope="col"
Position
US Billboard 200[37] 139

Decade-end charts

Chart (2010–2019)! scope="col"
Position
US Billboard 200[38] 70

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateLabel(s)Format(s)Ref.
VariousFebruary 13, 2015Cash MoneyDigital download[39]
April 21, 2015CD[40]
October 28, 2016Vinyl[41]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Drake Announces Fourth Album: "Views From The 6". Billboard. July 15, 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826043508/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6157617/drake-announces-fourth-album-views-from-the-6-exclusive. August 26, 2016. mdy-all.
  2. Web site: Davis. Justin. A Toronto Raptors Player Dropped Some Hints About an Upcoming Drake Mixtape. Complex. February 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213134015/http://www.complex.com/music/2014/11/could-drake-be-dropping-a-new-mixtape-in-january. February 13, 2015. mdy-all.
  3. Robinson. Will. Drake releases short film Jungle and teases new songs. Entertainment Weekly. February 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213030245/http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/12/drake-releases-short-film-jungle-and-teases-new-songs-1. February 13, 2015. mdy-all.
  4. Web site: Geslani. Michelle. Drake's new short film Jungle is quintessential Drake, features new music – watch. Consequence of Sound. February 12, 2015 . February 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213064220/http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/02/drakes-new-short-film-jungle-is-quintessential-drake-features-new-music-watch/. February 13, 2015. mdy-all.
  5. Web site: Stein. Spencer. Drake's "If Youre Reading This Its Too Late" Counts Toward His Cash Money Contractual Obligation, DatPiff's KP Says. HipHopDX. February 19, 2015 . February 22, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150808231025/http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.32627/title.drakes-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late-became-album-in-order-to-count-toward-contractual-obligation-originally-slated-to-be-dj-drama-hosted-gangsta-grillz-mixtape. August 8, 2015. mdy-all.
  6. Ramirez. Erika. Drake Releases 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' Album Out of Nowhere. Billboard. February 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150215112654/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6472740/drake-releases-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late-album-out-of. February 15, 2015. mdy-all.
  7. Web site: DRAKE – IF YOU'RE READING THIS IT'S TOO LATE. Cash Money Records. February 13, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213231832/http://www.cashmoney-records.com/news/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late/. February 13, 2015. mdy-all.
  8. Web site: The Art History of Drake: If You're Reading This It's Too Late. The Fader. January 27, 2018.
  9. Web site: Markman. Rob. Drake's New Project Is Finally Here: Listen To If You're Reading This It's Too Late. MTV. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213092604/http://www.mtv.com/news/2078623/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late/. February 13, 2015. mdy-all.
  10. Web site: ogronc @candlestickem for the town man. Chopped not slopped. Instagram. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150223012751/https://instagram.com/p/zO_0axDQOg/. February 23, 2015. mdy-all.
  11. Web site: Zach Frydenlund. Premiere: Stream and Download OVOGRONC's 'If You're Choppin This It's Too Late' Mixtape. Complex. 4 January 2016. April 14, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115351/http://www.complex.com/music/2015/04/og-ron-c-if-youre-choppin-this-its-too-late-stream-premiere. March 4, 2016. mdy-all.
  12. Drake Announces Physical Release Date for 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late'. Hampp. Andrew. April 13, 2015. Billboard. December 15, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160105213654/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6531616/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late-physical-release-date. January 5, 2016. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Exclaim!. February 17, 2015. February 25, 2015. Zaworski. Eric. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150221191913/http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/drake-if_youre_reading_this_its_too_late. February 21, 2015. mdy-all.
  14. Web site: Ritchie. Kevin. Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late – NOW Toronto Magazine – Think Free. Now. February 13, 2015. July 17, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160822230911/https://nowtoronto.com/music/album-reviews/drake%27s-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late/. August 22, 2016. mdy-all.
  15. Web site: Lobenfeld. Claire. Drake: If You're Reading This, It's Too Late review. Fact. February 18, 2015. July 17, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160811034821/http://www.factmag.com/2015/02/18/keeping-real-goes-wrong-drakes-youre-reading-late-reviewed/. August 11, 2016. mdy-all.
  16. Web site: Farber. Jim. Drake, 'If You're Reading This, It's Too Late': Album Review – NY Daily News. New York Daily News. New York. February 13, 2015. July 17, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817111341/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/drake-reading-late-album-review-article-1.2114291. August 17, 2016. mdy-all.
  17. Web site: Juon. Steve "Flash". RapReviews.com Feature for February 17, 2015 – Kid Ink's "Full Speed". RapReviews. February 17, 2015. July 17, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160715032457/http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2015_02F_itstoolate.html. July 15, 2016. mdy-all.
  18. Web site: Cross. Alan. Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 18 February 2015. February 18, 2015. February 20, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150219174449/http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/weekly-music-sales-report-and-analysis-18-february-2015/. February 19, 2015. mdy-all.
  19. Caulfield. Keith. Drake's Surprise Mixtape Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200. Billboard. February 18, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150220152050/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6473126/billboard-200-drake-surprise-album-debuts-at-no-1-fifty-shades. February 20, 2015. mdy-all.
  20. Drake's Surprise Album Sets Spotify Records Billboard. Billboard. 2015-12-21. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150218144908/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6473094/drake-spotify-record-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late. February 18, 2015. mdy-all.
  21. Trust. Gary. Drake Becomes First Rapper to Top Artist 100. Billboard. February 20, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150220152235/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6479916/drake-artist-100. February 20, 2015. mdy-all.
  22. Caulfield. Keith. Adele's '25' Rules as Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2015 in U.S.. Billboard. 8 January 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160108235022/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6835248/adele-25-top-album-of-2015-in-us. January 8, 2016. mdy-all.
  23. If You're Reading This It's Too Late. CD liner notes. Drake. Republic Records. 2015. 28879-0.
  24. Web site: Trammell . Matthew . River Tiber's "No Talk" Is The Previously Unheard Sample From Drake's "No Tellin'" . The Fader . March 9, 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150313213458/http://www.thefader.com/2015/03/09/river-tibet-no-talk . March 13, 2015 . mdy-all .
  25. Web site: ドレイクの作品. Ja. Oricon. August 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200607030814/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/492785/products/album/. dead. June 7, 2020.
  26. Web site: ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2015. Australian Recording Industry Association. January 6, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160112063600/http://www.aria.com.au/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-albums-2015.htm. January 12, 2016. mdy-all.
  27. Billboard Top Canadian Albums – Year-end Chart. . December 9, 2015.
  28. Web site: End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2015. Official Charts Company. June 28, 2020.
  29. Billboard 200 – Year-end Chart. . December 9, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20151211210130/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/top-billboard-200-albums. December 11, 2015. mdy-all.
  30. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-end Chart. Billboard . December 9, 2015.
  31. Billboard Top Canadian Albums – Year-end Chart. . August 14, 2018.
  32. Web site: Album Top-100 2016 . Hitlisten.NU . da . December 31, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161230202617/http://hitlisten.nu/top2016.asp . December 30, 2016 . mdy-all .
  33. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2016. Billboard. December 9, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20161208120131/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-billboard-200-albums. December 8, 2016. mdy-all.
  34. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Year End 2016. Billboard. August 14, 2018.
  35. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017. Billboard. December 12, 2017.
  36. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Year End 2017. Billboard. August 14, 2018.
  37. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2018. Billboard. April 7, 2021.
  38. Decade-End Charts: Billboard 200. Billboard. November 15, 2019.
  39. Web site: If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Drake . February 12, 2015 . . January 22, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170121115851/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/if-youre-reading-this-its/id966997496 . January 21, 2017 .
  40. Web site: Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late [Explicit]]. Amazon. May 21, 2019.
  41. Web site: Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late [2 LP]]. Amazon. May 21, 2019.

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