Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late officially celebrates its fifth birthday today, with many still calling the mixtape his masterpiece. Even those who place projects like Take Care or Nothing Was The Same above it can't deny the significance of the 2015 album, which marked a transitionary phase for the Canadian rapper. An embrace of his home city, a purely Torontonian body of work. New slang seemed to pop up at every corner, none more ubiquitous than "Woes." In that sense, fourth track "Know Yourself" shines as a highlight.
Fueled by an ice-cold atmospheric instrumental, Drizzy floats over erratic trap drums and deep-buzzing bass. His cadence shifts with the rising stakes, refrains of "you know how that should go" reflective of his jaded frustration. The second verse finds him in a frenzied state, paying homage to his Torontonian mates with namedrops to rival The Game. "'I'm turnin' into a n***a that thinks about money and women like 24/7," he muses, sounding more than okay with it. "That's where my life took me, that's just how shit happened to go."
As Drake fans likely know, today is a significant day for the rapper. Aside from If You're Reading This, February 13th also marks the arrival of So Far Gone, the mixtape that started it all. All things considered, which album do you prefer?
Quotable Lyrics
This is that nasty flow
Top boy in this shit, I'm so international
Reps up is in here
Got P Reign and Chubby and TJ and Winnie and whoa!
Yeah and you know how that shit go
I might declare it a holiday as soon as Baka get back on the road
