Nothing Was the Same bristles with epiphanies, absurdities, and plenty of bluster, but it’s all fodder for a hyperrealistic portrait of Aubrey Drake Graham, not some coronation ceremony.
Nothing Was the Same wrestles Drake’s successes with his ever-lingering insecurities, and like some of the best music, we can see ourselves in these songs. It’s an exhilarating change of pace for the genre.
In the end, what really matters is that the superior Nothing Was The Same brings back the excitement of So Far Gone.
As Drake albums go, this is the Drakiest: Except for Jay Z, who shows up at the end of the album, Nothing Was the Same is an entirely solo affair, and all of Drake's tendencies are dialed up.
Nothing Was the Same is a tougher, more grown up album than he’s made before and, if it never quite reaches the emotional depth of Take Care’s ‘Marvin’s Room’ or ‘Take Care’, it surpasses the previous album in consistency and unity of vision.
The change in soundscape is drastic and helps complete Drake’s transformation from consummate professional to broody enigma. Even on the party songs, he is suspicious of everyone and painfully susceptible to the corruptive nature of his adult playground.
On his follow-up, Nothing Was The Same, Drake eases up on that machismo and distances himself even further from genre tropes to further mine the late-night vibe of Take Care’s softest stretches.
‘Nothing Was The Same’ offers the listener a lot of what they’ve come to love (or loathe, indeed) about its maker, with the occasional flash of something a little more daring than might’ve been anticipated.
It’s hard to overstate how much Nothing Was the Same benefits from a cohesive production style, just as it benefits from the smaller amount of guests, since more time with the half-charming, half-monstrous Drake means an even clearer rendering of his foibles and flaws.
A more accurate title for this album might have been Everything Was Pretty Much the Same: It’s a brilliant summation of all the things you already love about Drake – unless you find him totally annoying, in which case it probably won’t change your mind.
There’s also less fat in general: throughout the album’s lean, cohesive set of 13 tracks, Drake packs multiple emotions into individual songs instead of adding on extra items.
Nothing Was the Same is the work of someone who is not happy to sit on his laurels and determined to build, which is admirable in this day and age of get rich quick artists who quickly fade when they have to build upon and repeat their original success.
Nothing Was the Same is filled with beats that are a joy to listen to and Drake often has worthwhile things to contribute. But, more and more, his confidence is getting the best of him. Sure, he sounds like a star. But I’d rather he sound a like a person.
Drake's pop music con job is just too well executed despite all its obvious flaws to not be enjoyed.
Nothing Was The Same is a challenging, uncompromised major label rap album with a handful of impeccable songs, weighed down slightly by the rapper's increasingly solipsistic viewpoint.
Nothing Was The Same is a moody record, like a bottomless pit of violent and vocal hormones during puberty. A little confusing, a little stand-offish in parts, but when an equilibrium is reached, virtually perfect.
A steely affair that finds Drake and longtime producer Noah "40" Shebib pulling their sound and worldview further inward to increasingly murky results.
Nothing Was the Same doesn't show large amounts of growth, but the small changes to the sound and the slightly wider net his lyrics cast make it worthwhile.
While Nothing Was The Same won’t do anything to win over Drake’s detractors, doing pretty much nothing new for the rapper except bringing in more drill-style hi-hats and scaling back the obsession with 808s, dude is nothing if not reliable.
Drizzy’s candid lyrics about battered egos and insecure relationships were refreshing early on in his career, but the persona is wearing thin as he recalls how rich his melancholy has made him.
Here, Drake continues with his lyrical obsession with the tattered relationships of his past, which is fine, but he hops on a gauntlet of nutty trap beats on this LP that are less than flattering to his clean-cut persona.
A few spins in, listening to Nothing Was the Same is akin to putting up with Big Sean in order to get to Kendrick: Drake is just tolerable, and it’s tempting to skip through him to get to the good parts, which are instrumental passages and guest spots.
Yeah, nothing was the same with Drake after this.
Aubrey Graham was born in 1986, in Toronto, Ontario to Canadian mother and Afro-American father. Like he raps on this album he "Started from the Suburbs". When he was 15, Drake became actor. Most know role in his acting career overall is James "Jimmy" Brooks from "Degrassi: The Next Generation". https://youtu.be/KUx80OwMcfg?si=Pz8iZuvenW6AM3uM . In 2006, he started to make rap music. His early inspirations were ... read more
This album is Drake at his absolute best for me
Top Tracks: Tuscan Leather, Furthest Thing, From Time, Hold On We're Going Home, The Language, Too Much, Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2
Weakest Tracks: Own It, 305 To My City
i might not be the biggest Drake fan but these are some of his best tracks to this day
Favorite tracks: Pound Cake, Tuscan Leather and From Time
imagine if drake was still rapping like this?
favorite tracks: tuscan leather, further thing, started from the bottom, wu-tang forever, worst behavior, from time, hold on we're going home, too much, pound cake / paris morton music 2
1 | Tuscan Leather 6:06 | 89 |
2 | Furthest Thing 4:27 | 86 |
3 | Started From the Bottom 2:53 | 78 |
4 | Wu-Tang Forever 3:37 | 77 |
5 | Own It 4:11 | 67 |
6 | Worst Behavior 4:30 | 81 |
7 | From Time 5:22 feat. Jhené Aiko | 84 |
8 | Hold On, We're Going Home 3:51 feat. Majid Jordan | 88 |
9 | Connect 4:56 | 70 |
10 | The Language 3:44 | 74 |
11 | 305 To My City 4:15 feat. Detail | 62 |
12 | Too Much 4:21 feat. Sampha | 87 |
13 | Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2 7:13 feat. JAY-Z | 90 |
#2 | / | Complex |
#2 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#5 | / | Billboard |
#7 | / | Dazed |
#7 | / | Pigeons & Planes |
#9 | / | Slant |
#11 | / | Amazon |
#12 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#14 | / | Rolling Stone |
#19 | / | Consequence of Sound |
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