“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” is a 2016 album by Drake. Drake is the biggest rapper in the world and a former actor from the teenage drama Degrassi. He has many hits and is on many playlist. Although he has an extensive catalog this is my favorite album from him. It is an album that not many musical artists could make. It is an album that Drake made to prove something. After years of making music about heartbreak and love, he made an aggressive album. An album that is braggadocious and confident. It shows that Drake is not who you think he is.

The album starts out with the song “Legend” which is fitting for this album. The chorus states “ If I die, I’m a legend”. This isn’t subtle at all and sets the tone for the braggadocio in the rest of the album. The instrumental on this song is also ambient, allowing Drake to shine through. The next song is “Energy” which is a more upbeat song. The main part of the chorus is the idea that Drake has enemies. This song contains aggression not normally seen from Drake. He raps about having “two mortgages, thirty million in total” and how he buys so much stuff you need to “make sure you keep track of it all”. Although rapping about materials isn’t new in rap music the other content in this song elevates it. In one bar he says “ I hear fairy tales ‘bout how they gonna run up on me, Well, run up when you see me then we gon’ see”. The reason I enjoy this bar is because Drake had never really rapped like that until this point. He was typically talking about relationships. The second song on the album is waning us into a new sound for Drake.

The next notable song is the fourth witch is titled “Know Yourself”. This features a beat switch which many people recognize and contains lyrics pertaining to his life changing as a celebrity. The next song “No Tellin’” is one of my favorites on the album. He raps “They think I’m soft, think I’m innocent… Man I’m really him you just fillin’ in’ ‘ This line further shows the message Drake is sending that he’s not who people perceive him to be. He later says “… you took the summer off, we couldn’t tell” This aggressive bar shows just how confident Drake is on this album. This song features a beat switch where he says bars like “… think they can come take what I got, lets be logical” and “ Thinkin they are lions and tigers and bears, I go huntin’, put heads on my fireplace. I love this use of figurative language as it shows that Drake’s competition may think they are the leaders of the industry yet his actions can determine their success.

The next song is titled “Madonna”. This is a low tempo song that displays Drake talking about wanting a woman. I enjoy the subtle piano notes placed under the amplified drums. This song creates a mood that is calming and smooth. After this Drake becomes aggressive once again on the song “6 God”. This song contains lyrics on putting money first and not being worried about another person’s “mob”. The beat is notable as it has these looping horns over a simple but hard hitting bassline. A notable line from this is song is “ Nobody really likes us except for us” 

“Star67” features Drake talking about never imagining the heights he’d reach as a rapper. This is another downtempo song featuring phone references. The next notable song on this album is “Used To” which features Lil Wayne. On this song the two rappers rap about wanting respect and getting used to their power and fame. Drake raps bars like “ Every time they talkin’ it’s behind your back, gotta learn to line them up and then attack….” and I’ma always end up as the man in the end”.  Another notable bar is Drake saying “ Never needed your acceptance never needed nothin, You don’t understand, I’m the only one to hear from, You don’t understand that it’s me or nothing.” Lil Wayne continues the confidence on this song starting with his first lines saying “when you get to where i’m at, you gotta remind about where you been” These are two of the biggest rappers of all time showing who they are.

“You and The 6″ is a song that showcases Drake rapping about his mom needing him to live his own life. He raps about being busy and how he knows shes worried but he is just living his life. One of my favorite bar on this track is ” I used to get teased for being black, now I’m hear and I’m not black enough because I’m not acting tough or making stories up about where I’m actually from.” This one bar could sum up the album. Drake made this album to show he wasn’t someone to be messed with or talked about any kind of way. When he came into the rap he was one first rappers, along with Kanye West, to show that you didn’t need to be a gangster to  make good hip-hop. Regular people have stories to tell also. Even then he could’ve been fake and rapped about violence and drugs but he chose to stay true to himself. Choosing to do that may have made him look soft and not your typical rapper made him one of the most successful musicians of all time and he is showcasing that here.