Drake Drops New Album ‘Honestly, Nevermind’
The record comes shortly after ‘Certified Lover Boy,’ which was released on September 3, 2021.
Just hours after Drake took to Instagram this afternoon (June 16) to tease fans with his new album, Honestly, Nevermind, the rap superstar has released the 14 song project.
Notably, the album only features one guest, 21 Savage, on album closer “Jimmy Cooks.” Drake recruited his go-to collaborators Noah “40” Shebib, Oliver El-Khatib, and engineer Noel Cadastre as executive producers. Additionally, Drizzy has teamed up with South African house producer Black Coffee, who also serves as an EP. The electronic star followed up a huge 2021, in which he won a GRAMMY for his album Subconsciously, by working with one of the biggest rappers on the planet.
The album features songs titled “Currents,” “Overdrive,” and “Tie That Binds,” the latter of which finds Drake crooning about a lover, enchanted by the way she looks at him. On the track, he raps, “Kill me slowly with those piercing eyes/ Don’t break my fall.” Later, he adds, “Baby, I’ll take you to my family, change your name.” The song’s club-feel permeates throughout the album, which finds Drake diving further into dance music than ever before.
Fans began piecing together that the album would be inspired by club music when renowned DJ and producer Carnage, who worked on six songs of the album described it as, “the greatest dance album of all time” under the album’s announcement post. The inclusion of other electronic music producers from around the world like Ry X, &Me, and Rampa prove that dance music is the focus here.
Honestly, Nevermind is the follow-up to Drake’s smash 2021 release Certified Lover Boy, which was released on September 3.
Upon its release, Certified Lover Boy debuted in the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 and had the best week for any album release at that point in 2021, according to Billboard. It was Drake’s 10th No.1 album.
Certified Lover Boy sold 613,000 equivalent album units, making it the biggest week for an album since Taylor Swift’s Folklore sold 846,000 units in 2020, according to Billboard.
Drake produced Certified Lover Boy himself, alongside Noah “40” Shebib, Oliver El-Khatib, and Noel Cadastre. The project marks the rapper’s first official album release since Scorpion, which dominated in 2018 with singles like “Nice For What” and “In My Feelings.” In the interim, Drake released two mixtapes, Care Package and Dark Lane Demo Tapes, in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Certified Lover Boy featured the most collaborations on a Drake project since 2018’s More Life. The album found him teaming up with a major selection of artists including Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Giveon, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Yebba, 21 Savage, Project Pat, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Tems, and Kid Cudi. There was also an uncredited contribution from Nicki Minaj on album cut “Papi’s Home.”
In May of this year, it was reported that Drake broke his tie with Ariana Grande and BTS to be crowned the artist with the most No.1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart debuts. Until his latest hit with Future, “Wait for U,” stormed to the top of the US chart, the superstar rapper was in joint place with the pop megastar and K-Pop boy band.
He now has six No.1 Hot 100 debuts to his name, with “Wait for U” joining “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” “Toosie Slide,” “What’s Next,” and “Way 2 Sexy.” The hip-hop star also has a total of 10 No.1 hits on the chart. With Honestly, Nevermind coming shortly, he may soon be adding to that tally.
