By Ryan Barrera
Staff Writer
Drake’s ‘Nothing Was The Same’ album cover depicts him as a child gazing at his adult self.
Canadian-born rapper Drake released his third studio album on Sept. 24 titled “Nothing Was the Same” by OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. It sold more then 700,000 copies on opening day, according to Hits Daily Double.
Drake’s new album joins other rapping heavy weights, such as Kanye West with his album ‘Yeezus’ and Jay-Z’s ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail.’
“I’ve never been part of a year when so many legends are dropping projects,” said Drake in a Time magazine interview.
Whether ‘Nothing Was the Same,’ does better than both ‘Yeezus’ and ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ has yet to be seen. It is, however, better than his first two studio albums.
‘Nothing Was the Same’ continues on with the emotional trailblazing that has been portrayed in his previous albums. Though his sound doesn’t conform to the “always masculine all the time,” rapping that the rappers before him portray, Drakes lyrics resonate with most of his listeners because they’re about love, or an ode to a past relationship.
The album opens with ‘Tuscan Leather,’ with Drake proclaiming how he is “on a mission trying to shift the culture.” With this song he’s practically lamenting himself as the top dog in the industry, with a catchy beat and rap lyrics that remind us all why Drake and “Nothing Was the Same” is in a class of its own.
“Nothing Was the Same bristles with epiphanies, absurdities, and plenty of bluster,” said Entertainment Weekly.
This album is a definite change of pace for the genre because of Drake’s lyrical content. His lyrics are different from his competition only because Drake is willing to take his songs to a more emotional level.
It’s because of this that makes his third studio album truly more confusing. In one song, “Started from the Bottom,” he proclaims he started from the “bottom” when in reality he grew up in the suburbs of Canada and went on to play a paraplegic in the Teen Nick show “Degrassi.” It’s certainly not the bottom according to most rappers in the same industry whose past include selling or doing drugs, and being in gangs.
Drake obviously can’t rap about gang life, but he can rap. That’s why his new album is so confusing. Drake is well aware of this and addresses it in the song ‘Wu-Tang Forever.’
In the song Drake says, “I find peace knowing that it’s harder in the streets, I know. Luckily I didn’t have to grow there.”
Drake’s past doesn’t make his raps any less valid, cause if they did he wouldn’t be on his third album.
