Nothing Was The Same
Drake has gone from an unlikely rapper to an accepted rapper to maybe the biggest rapper out, all in four years, and he's the genre's biggest pop crossover star. His new album is a dimly lit affair, both morose and triumphant; as Drake albums go, this is the Drakiest.
It all began with a drunk dial. On his 2011 hit “Marvin’s Room,” a confession in the form of a shot-down booty call, Drake confided his deepest anxieties about stardom and sex, divulging the exact number of times he’d had sex over the last week (four) and the sad details of who those women were (veritable strangers…
People of a certain temperament do not like Drake. First there's the issue of his upbringing. The MC grew up in the tony Forest Hill district of Toronto and, for a spell, played heart-of-gold paraplegic Jimmy Brooks on teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation.
After an EP and two albums that firmly established his moody, introspective style and made him a huge star, Drake's third album, Nothing Was the Same, isn't a huge departure but it does take some steps in new directions.
Album review: Clash covers 'Nothing Was The Same', the third studio album from Canadian rapper Drake, featuring 'Started From The Bottom' and 'Wu-Tang Forever'
Nothing Was the Same further establishes a persona driven by Drake’s still-developing conflict between assurance and hesitation.
Nothing Was the Same might just be the closest we'll ever get to listening to Charlie Brown take a victory lap.
Rap and hip-hop are full of coronations, from perceived kings to classic albums to legendary beefs.
Drake's blend of glamour and doom proves just as charming as ever on this third album, writes <strong>Paul MacInnes</strong>