PrimeFortune Reviews: Drake- "If Your Reading This It's Too Late"

Written by: Zach Deitz 

Since the strong emergence of Drake in 2009, with his hit album, “So Far Gone”, he has been a constant force, not only in the rap industry, but in the entire entertainment  industry in general, as he has cemented himself as one of the most influential artist in the entire industry.

In a move similar to Beyonce’s, when she spontaneously dropped her self-titled album “Beyonce” at the end of 2013 with with no prior press or promotion, Drake came out of left field with “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”. It is Drakes first project since “Nothing Was Ever The Same”, and has been met with critical acclaim thus far, appearing at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, after its first week of sales. 

To start, the album is filled with a type of ferocity, as Drake features a theme throughout the album of confronting his foes, and trying to vehemently prove that the crown is his for the taking. From track to track this album carries the tone of a more rap centric project, which has been a debated point of ambiguity with his past projects, as Drake's sector of creation lies within the grey area between Rap and R&B. In fact, only three songs on the album, “Madonna, Now and Forever, and Company”, have a slow, R&B feel to them, with every other track being filled with bar, after bar of aggressive claims and affirmations. Another theme prevalent throughout each song is the passion that Drake holds for his hometown of Toronto. Many of the songs feature some type of incorporation of the number six. Locals of Toronto refer to the city as “the 6”, and Drake brings his city into the limelight while reminding us all that he values his roots with this underlying theme. 


The album is filled, mostly, with songs that are slight disses, and stabs at those who he considers have wronged him on his way to the top. From coming at Cash Money on the song “Star67”, to coming at Tyga on “6PM in New York”, Drake left nothing for the imagination with the lyrics in his songs. The production, done mostly by Boi-1da and Noah “40”, is the same classic Drake production we are used to, with piano loops, and sampling, chosen from various retro R&B cuts. The feel of the project, in total, is that of a statement. With “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” dropping, the main question people were asking was, “is it a mixtape or album”, when really, the focus should be on what is within the track listing. Many rumors are swirling around the motive for releasing this project, and the rumors range from Drake trying to just make a statement, to the theory that he dropped the album to get released from the Cash Money roster, officially. 

Regardless of Drake’s motive, it is clear that he is back at the top of his game. The Drake that we hear on “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”, is the same Drake that we learned to love when he first blessed the air waves with his melodic tunes, and on-point bars. Over here at Prime Fortune, this has been the music that we can't get out of our headphones, and has been on repeat for many of us that work with the blog. It is a powerhouse production, and it is scary to think about what Drake has lined up for later this year, as, in theory, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late", is a compilation of Drake "throw-aways". In all, with his actual feature album, “Views From The 6”, coming later this year, it is very possible that 2015 will go down as “The Year of Drake”.