Disclaimer: I'm just a guy who grew up in the Drake/Kendrick/J. Cole era of hip hop who enjoyed 'Certified Lover Boy' and likes talking about music. Take my opinions here with however much salt you like, and read on if you enjoy music thinkpieces.
With the release and lukewarm reception of Drake's 6th studio album, 'Certified Lover Boy', Drake and his camp have come under fire for what many are calling a string of uninspired releases, backed up by relatively mediocre review scores from popular online music review sites like Pitchfork for the back half of his studio album discography (Views, Scorpion, and CLB all received scores under a 7, along with 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes', though that one's a mixtape). Contrast this with Drake's earlier album scores (8.4 for 'Thank Me Later', 8.6 for both 'Take Care' and 'Nothing Was The Same', and an 8.3 for 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late', though again, a mixtape), and it would be easy to call the past half-decade the beginning of a "fall-off" for Drake, and I wouldn't blame anyone who did. Between the difficulties that come with maintaining a fresh sound through 15 years of 6 studio albums, 7 mixtapes, and 4 EPs, and the recent trend in the music culture to make albums as long as possible to take advantage of streaming platforms and numbers, listening to a Drake project all the way through can admittedly become harder and harder with each subsequent attempt. However, I'm not here to defend Drake's discography. I'm here today to talk about Drake's album intros, and hopefully by the end of this, show you why CLB is anything but uninspired (at least for the first 5 minutes and 36 seconds).
With that, let's dive into the intros off each of the 6 studio albums, starting with 'Fireworks' off Drake's 2010 Studio Debut 'Thank Me Later'.
Fireworks is aptly named, starting the song and album with a literal bang as fireworks go off in the background of a piano melody so clean, they're the second most beautiful "Keys" on the record.
"Money just changed everything
I wonder how life without it would go
From the concrete who knew that a flower would grow
Lookin' down from the top and it's crowded below
My fifteen minutes started an hour ago"
Coming off of the recent successes of So Far Gone and a signed deal with arguable GOAT rapper Lil Wayne, Drake immediately comes into this record letting us know how his life has changed as a result of the money and hard work. It's only been a year since that mixtape's release, but he already finds himself climbing to the top of the rap game, and he knows his fame isn't fleeting. This is the first glimpse we get of Drake's more braggadocious side that we come to know well in later installments, but it quickly fades as he moves into letting us know about certain struggles his kind of success brings. He talks about wanting the truth from others, and learning to deal with haters for the first time. He's approaching the top, but there's a dream he's still chasing, so until he gets there, he'll enjoy this success with Wayne and show the world what he's got.
"All I see is fireworks
Taking off like fireworks
Taking off like—Oh"
Alicia Keys then comes in, bringing Drake's feelings to life. His career is taking off like fireworks, and it's only up from here until he can inevitably go out with a proverbial bang.
"I could tell it wasn't love, I just thought you'd fuck with me
Who could've predicted Lucky Strike would have you stuck with me
Damn, I kept my wits about me luckily
What happened between us that night? It always seems to trouble me"
Drake then comes back in for verse 2, introducing us to the 'soft/corny' Drake we all know and love. Here, the fireworks are the intensity and eventual blowup of a failed relationship, a common theme we'll see in Drake's music even to this day. Rumors of this verse being about singer Rihanna (since she and Drake were first spotted at the Lucky Strike bowling alley mentioned in this verse) give this track more nostalgic weight, looking back on what could have been for both of their careers and personal lives had something not fizzled out there.
"Everythin' the same but it feels different
My dad called me up knowing that I still listen
And he's still got his foot out, guilt tripping
It's been years though, I just learn to deal with it"
Verse 3 introduces us to Drake's family. From this verse alone, we get a sense that Drake's father was absent for some time, and his mother needed help that Drake couldn't give her until his recent successes, something he is now very proud of. However, despite the money, Drake also realizes he can't give his mother everything, as she expresses her loneliness from being unable to make her marriage work. Drake comments on a trend of failed marriages in society, revealing that as a personal fear he has for his own love life, and another reason that he feels he needs to succeed in life, so he can find a good girl and make a relationship work.
This introduction leads us into the rest of Thank Me Later which, like all of Drake's albums, went on to reach #1 on the charts in both the US and Canada, and would be followed up only 17 months later by Drake's 2nd studio album and my personal favorite, 'Take Care', opening with 'Over My Dead Body'.
"How I'm feeling, it doesn't matter
'Cause you know I'm okay"
Keeping in theme with a female feature on the opening track, this one starts with a haunting chorus sung by Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, who was not the only Canadian feature to put in work on this album (The Weeknd's all over this thing, a story and analysis for another day). Chantal's crooning over some (you guessed it) piano keys sets up the tone of the rest of the album, and again acts as a mouthpiece for Drake's own thoughts of being at the top, worrying about fake friends and lovers, and keeping the success he's garnered so far.
"I think I killed e'rybody In the game last year,
man, fuck it, I was on though"
Drake once again comes in swinging, this time with even more to brag about. Thank Me Later peaked at number 1, and there was no reason to believe the story this time around would be any different. The confidence is at an all time high for the boy, and we begin to notice a shift in the way he views life. He's spending more time at strip clubs and bars, getting attention from dancers, free shots from strangers, paying 6 figures in taxes. Drake has 'made it' and it seems like whatever dream he was chasing in Fireworks has been realized here.
"Are these people really discussing my career again?
Asking if I'll be going platinum in a year again?
Don't I got the shit the world wanna hear again?
Don't Michael Jordan still got his hoop earring in?"
It's around this point in the song we start to see a new development for Drake; expectations. Thank Me Later was a smash success, and Drake now has expectations placed on him to follow that up with similar impact. Drake is confident he has what it takes to go back-to-back, but if he's not worried about these pressures of performing to a standard he inadvertently set for himself, he's at least well aware they exist. He then goes on to talk about how he's not worried about other rappers taking his spot, because nobody is as good as him, and they can hate all they want because they're just jealous. A notion that sounds childish at face value, but really, Drake's just being honest here. It's amusing now to look back at this persona he gave us and see just how big of an artist he became during this album run. "Untouchable" is beginning to feel like an understatement.
"My city love me like Mac Dre in the Bay
Second album, I'm back paving the way
The backpackers are back on the bandwagon
Like this was my comeback season back, back in the day"
Many would call this album the start of Drake's run as Toronto's international ambassador. He makes a concerted effort to work with Canadians on this record, and his city loves him for putting them on the map musically. Drake aside, nowadays it's hard not to mention a Toronto artist when talking about modern hip hop & R&B, and you could argue Drake is the biggest reason for that. In contrast with Fireworks, this song sees Drake striving to put on for others now that he's already on himself, and sets up the rest of the album as a showcase for Canada's finest (Chantal, The Weeknd, Illangelo, Kromatik, T-Minus, and Doc Mckinney all had their hands on this project). He's shown the world what he has to offer, now he can show off where he's from as well.
Also…"shout out to asian girls, let the lights dim sum". I laugh Every. Single. Time.
Fast forward 2 years and another chart topping album and sold out tour later, and we finally get to hear many peoples' favorite Drake intro, 'Tuscan Leather', off his 3rd studio album, 'Nothing Was The Same'.
"Comin' off the last record
I'm gettin' twenty million off the record
Just to off these records, nigga, that's a record"
Drake sets records for his records and gets money off the record to record. Geez. There's a reason this one's a fan favorite. Immediately coming in over a pitched up Whitney Houston sample with some wordplay and hunger still in his voice, Drake uses this intro as a victory lap for the work he and his team accomplished with Take Care, which by this point was already a certified classic in the hip hop community, having just sold over 2 million copies by the time NWTS released. Drake doesn't stop there, bragging about getting radio play even if his songs don't have choruses, reaching heights NBA players couldn't, and being able to rap for an hour straight if he wanted to.
Going into verse 2 is where we start to see another weapon Drake has added to his arsenal; the beat switch. Suddenly, the track reverses, skips, then the drums pick up tempo as Drake comes back in.
"Not even talkin' to Nicki, communication is breakin'
I dropped the ball on some personal shit, I need to embrace it
I'm honest, I make mistakes, I'd be the second to admit it
Think that's why I need her in my life, to check me when I'm trippin'"
In a rare glimpse into Drake's personal relationships with named individuals, Drake admits here that he and fellow Young Money artist Nicki Minaj have drifted apart, and publicly expresses his desire to bridge that communication gap. While Nicki was present on Take Care, she is noticeably absent from NWTS, so it was refreshing to hear such a personal explanation up front that we as the audience were not entitled to.
"Born a perfectionist, guess that makes me a bit obsessive
That shit I heard from you lately really relieved some pressure
Like ayy, B, I got your CD, you get an E for effort
I piece letters together and get to talkin' reckless"
Drake goes on to deliver what I think is the most clever wordplay he's ever penned. Playing off the "A for Effort" phrase, Drake strings together the first six letters of the alphabet like it's nothing, all while letting his competition know they sound so bad, it's like they're not even trying (no A's for effort being given out here).
"How much time is this nigga spendin' on the intro?"
Coming off the 2nd beat switch in one song, Drake isn't slowing down, deciding now is a good time to drop like 7 different 90's references between the Fresh Prince, Cappadona, Married with Children, Family Matters, Memento, and the fuckin game of limbo which I haven't played myself since at least 1999.
"If we may, we would just like to close off with somethin' a bit inspirational
Hopefully something a bit relevant as to us all are having the same fears, shedding similar tears, and of course dying in so many years
It don't mean that we can't have a good life
So we'd like to just maybe close out with something, some food for thought, for all of us"
Drake let's Curtis Mayfield, one of the most influential black musicians to ever do it, take us out and into the rest of the album. A power move on Drake's part, as it's hard not to draw parallels between Curtis' influence and Drake's own influence that he's starting to have in the music world.
Fast forward almost 3 years later to 2016, and we get to Drake's first album released to a mixed reception, 'Views', opening with 'Keep The Family Close'. The lore behind this album and the year leading up to its release could fill a book, with the endless teasers and promotions, a name change from 'Views From the 6', and sky high expectations thanks to the success of his first three albums and coming off the back of his critically acclaimed mixtape, IYRTITL. Drake made the bold choice on this intro to start by singing.
"All of my "let's just be friends" are friends I don't have anymore
How do you not check on me when things go wrong
Guess I should've tried to keep my family closer
Much closer"
It's lonely at the top, and Drake's been up there for a while. Drake's solemn crooning about fake friends and lovers feels a little more real this time around, like it's harder at this point in his career for him to find real friends than enemies (a sentiment only slightly ruined by his yearning over that one Chrysler car that looked like a Bentley).
The instrumentals pick up heading into verse 2 where Drake is either still talking to the fake girl from the first verse, or a new fake friend that he's outed as a fraud. Referencing the lessons he learned on Kennedy road, Drake brings up his ties to Scarborough, a place we know from NWTS when he said, "luckily I didn't have to grow there, I would only go there cause there's niggas that I know there."
"You sit and you pray hoping that the stars align
My luck is a sure thing cause I'm living right
When I needed you, you couldn't give me any advice
But you always had something to say every other time"
Heading into the 3rd verse, Drake solidifies the tone for the rest of this album; icy. This album dropped in April, but we can tell it's still winter in Toronto, as Drake turns a cold shoulder to those he used to trust, and tightens his circle so small, it becomes a period (something he said himself on his feature on The Game's 2015 track '100' just a year prior). Drake wraps a bow on this intro with a snippet from patois-slinging Toronto Native 416Jamz, who's just fine on her own.
"I'm not afraid no gyal heart man
And I'm not afraid of no cyattie
And I'm not afraid of no waste yute neither
So anybody who want it can get it
Seh feh"
This intro marks a turning point for both Drake and his listeners. While Drake received a lot of criticism for his previously braggadocious lyrics and played up 'gangster' lifestyle, a lot of those same critics reacted negatively to the tonal shift of Views. While not as fun of a subject matter as the victory laps he took on previous projects, this is arguably Drake at his most vulnerable up to this point, even choosing to take the risk of letting his singing carry the entire track, not rapping a word. This, in my opinion, is where Drake turns an introspective heel, and regardless of the quality of the tracklist following, this intro is Drake's first public realization that life isn't going the way he thought it would. He's a decade removed from his first couple mixtapes, and STILL having girl problems. Still not knowing who he can trust. Still facing opposition from every direction. This song is one of Drake's most important to me because for the first time on an album intro, Drake is not winning, and he KNOWS it.
All this leads to 'Survival' off 2018's 'Scorpion'. An album two years removed from his passion project that was 'Views', but with a Pusha T beef in the middle that outed Drake as a father and had many fans feeling like, for the first time, his back was against the ropes.
"I've had real Philly niggas try to write my endin'
Takin' shots with the GOAT and talked about shots that we sendin'
I've had scuffles with bad boys that wasn't pretendin'"
Addressing old beefs with Meek Mill and P. Diddy, Drake assures his listeners that he and his legacy are just fine, stating he still holds the crown and he's still taking up all four slots on Mount Rushmore. This may be personal opinion tainted by my own dislike of Scorpion as an album, but Drake on the defense for nearly the entire song makes this arguably his weakest album intro, and definitely isn't helped by the boring Claude Larson sample hanging over the entire runtime. While it sounds like he is in denial about public perception about his situation at this time, there are still some good snippets on here that I'll include below:
"I am a cream-of-the-crop nigga
You niggas pop mollies, my 'Malis pop niggas
House on both coasts, but I live on the charts"
"Always got a ace up my sleeve for whatever was dealt
Daddy got suits like Bernie Mac, he dresses himself"
All of this FINALLY brings us to 2021. Covid delayed many highly anticipated releases, and Drake's 6th Studio Album 'Certified Lover Boy' was no exception, with Drake releasing 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes' to tide his fans over until the album was ready. Going through another promotion-heavy runup, this album rollout felt like it rivaled 'Views', with a major exception; Drake's fans had been burned before, so now expectations were not as high. September 3rd, 2021 would be the day we would finally see CLB in our streaming queues, and many were quick to give their opinions on what they deemed a lackluster performance, but Drake hooked me from 'Champagne Poetry', the very start of the album, and what I believe to be the most inspired intro Drake has delivered yet.
"I love you, I love you, I love you
Until I, until I
I love you, I love you, I love you
Until I find the only words I know that you"
Starting with what is essentially a sample of a sample, Drake uses the MOTHERFUCKING BEATLES as his mouthpiece for this intro. You thought bringing Curtis Mayfield into the mix was a flex, imagine using the Beatles as your backup singers.
"I been hot since the birth of my son
I remain unphased, trust, worse has been done"
Braggadocius Drake is back, and this time he's evolved from Champagne Papi into Champagne Dad. Embracing fatherhood, Drake takes big personal strides by moving into a headspace where he is proud of his son, and no longer feels the need to hide it for fear of his family life tainting his professional endeavors.
"Nothing else bigger than the OVO letterman boys
Cashmere knits for the nighttime boat rides
Oli got the first еdition parked up roadside
The only sign of strugglin' is coming from thosе guys"
Since 'Keep the Family Close' on 'Views', Drake has learned his lesson and it's OVO only from here on out. Drake emphasizes the importance of family first, both his OVO family and his son, and recognizes how lucky he is to be in his position.
"Friends in high places and friends that I hide still
Still managed to moonwalk straight through a minefield
And then I'll come back to tell you how that feels"
Through all the controversy and bad characters that Drake has been involved with, it's a wonder that he's still as big a name in the industry as he is, and he recognizes that. There's growth here as we witness the first time Drake addresses his luck regarding these situations, and how thankful he is for his current position.
"Champagne poetry, these are the effortless flows
Supposedly something else is controlling me
Under a picture lives some of the greatest quotes from me
Under me I see all the people that claim they over me"
Here Drake ends a line with a double entendre, claiming both that the people who claim to be better than him actually aren't, and the women who claim to be over him are still under him in bed. A cool bit of wordplay we'd been missing in recent releases.
"The city's on fire and people are in denial
Charges being laid, but we'll see what they do with trial
I'm calling this shit from now
Sweetheart deals that the judges been handing down"
Heading into verse 2, we see a rare instance of Drake using his platform for activism, referencing the police brutality riots and protests that have been happening across America for the past couple years. Having not heard from Drake about issues like these since 2015's '6PM in New York', it's interesting hearing Drake's personal take on issues like police brutality, not being able to see family due to covid, and in recent years being criticized by his own city's police department for things like not using his own influence to help solve/prevent crimes, or for wearing a Hell's Angels hoodie in public. Drake spends this entire verse talking about real issues and real things that he is going through, without invoking a "woe is me" tone about any of it, but rather recognizing that life is hard for everyone in one way or another, no matter the hand that's dealt.
"My parents divorce is on me
My therapist's voice is making the choices for me
And I always censor myself 'cause no matter what, they reporting on me
The pressure is weighin' on me
Career is going great, but now the rest of me is fading slowly"
Drake's vulnerability and self-awareness in this verse is a major step up from the veil he used to hide behind. We used to never get a glimpse of what specific problems the REAL Drake faced, only some generic plots about a vague failed relationship or supposed enemies. Here, Drake is trusting his listeners with real information. He's not just sad about his parents' separation, he feels genuine guilt. He's not just feeling pressure to be successful, he's spelling out the pressure to act as a role model for his city.
"This the part where I don't ever say "Pardon me" anymore
This the part where I'ma find a new part of me to explore
This the part where all my partners know what we in it for
This the part where we gon' throw us a party after the war"
Coming up on the close of this last intro, Drake sounds like he's gearing up for a second wind in life. He's no longer going to apologize for his luck, wealth, fame, fortune, or family. He's going to look for something that will fulfill him personally. He's sounding like he's ready to settle down. And he's going to celebrate his successes and getting through the hard times.
These 5 minutes and 36 seconds give us the most personal glimpse into Drake's psyche that we've seen yet, and now we know who he thinks he is. He's a rapper on top of the game. He's a father who is proud of his kid and trying to figure things out with his baby mama. He's lonely and under pressure. He's worried about his parents. He's going to be alright. And now he's finally left it all on the table for us to decide if we believe him or not.
