Best Hip Hop Albums - Drake album, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, including covers, lyrics, songs audios / videos and Drake Profile.
Artist: Drake
Album: If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015)
Second perhaps only to Kanye West, Drake was a cross-platform cultural phenomenon in the 2010s.
He became a musical force only a few short years after he turned to rapping in 2006, whether on his own chart-topping releases or his highly sought-after guest appearances on other musicians' songs.
Known initially for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Toronto, Ontario native Drake (born Aubrey Drake Graham) stepped out as a rapper and singer with pop appeal in 2006, when he initiated a series of mixtapes.
A year later, despite being unsigned, he scored major exposure when his cocky and laid-back track "Replacement Girl," featuring Trey Songz, was featured on BET's 106 & Park program as its "Joint of the Day."
He raised his profile throughout the next several months by popping up on countless mixtapes and remixes, and as rumors swirled about contract offers from labels, he gradually became one of the most talked-about artists in the industry.
It did not hurt that he had support from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne.
By the end of June 2009, "Best I Ever Had," a promotional single, had climbed to number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
After a fierce bidding war, Drake signed with Universal Motown in late summer and released an EP (So Far Gone) made up of songs from his popular So Far Gone mixtape. It peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and won a 2010 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year.
Thank Me Later, a full-length featuring collaborations with the Kings of Leon, the-Dream, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne, was issued through Young Money the following year. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Still, the artist felt his debut was rushed, so its 2011 follow-up arrived with the title Take Care, referencing the increased time and effort put into the album's creation. Receiving critical acclaim, Grammy Awards, and the number one slot on the U.S. Billboard 200, Take Care cemented Drake's place as one of Canada's biggest exports.
In 2012, while on tour, Drake announced that he had started work on what would be his third studio album.
Nothing Was the Same was released in September of 2013. The album spawned many singles, topped charts around the world, was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and was nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy. Soon after the album's release he hit the road on an extended tour, taking time off for collabos and a few singles, included the Grammy-nominated "0 to 100/The Catch Up."
His next release was planned as a free mixtape before Cash Money decided they would rather charge for it.
The decidedly downbeat If You're Reading This It's Too Late was released in early 2015 and instantly tore up the U.S. charts, debuting at number one and placing all 17 songs in the Top 50 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Source: billboard.com
Drake: If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015) - Front
Drake: If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015) - Back
