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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
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.
90
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.
86
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.
85
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.
83
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.
83
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.
80
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.
80
He makes up for the lack of addictive anthems and playfulness with his impressionable stream of sentiments -- our kryptonite, his superpower.
75
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.
72
Drake's pop music con job is just too well executed despite all its obvious flaws to not be enjoyed.
70
A steely affair that finds Drake and longtime producer Noah "40" Shebib pulling their sound and worldview further inward to increasingly murky results.
70
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.
70
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.
70
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.
70
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.
50
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.
50
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.
20
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.
Great
This man can make good shit if he really tried, like damn. Though this project should probably lose the cheap production choices from time to time.
Best: Tuscan Leather, Furthest Thing, Started from the Bottom, Own It, From Time, Pound Cake, Paris Morton Music 2
Weakest: Connect
This man can make good shit if he really tried, like damn. Though this project should probably lose the cheap production choices from time to time.
Best: Tuscan Leather, Furthest Thing, Started from the Bottom, Own It, From Time, Pound Cake, Paris Morton Music 2
Weakest: Connect
Drake is one of those artists who has a bad reputation and for good reason. He is really popular and a lot of his recent works have been really awful but this album is the thing that earned him his spot. Nothing Was The Same is Drake at his peak thus far, as a rapper he shows a surprising amount of talent and as a lyricist. Some bars are maybe a bit cringy but really this is the best his ever sounded. The production on here is top tier, these tracks have such hypnotic and memorable beats that ... read more
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END OF YEAR LISTS
| #2 | / | Complex |
| #2 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
| #5 | / | Billboard |
| #7 | / | Piegons & Planes |
| #9 | / | Slant |
| #11 | / | Amazon |
| #12 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
| #14 | / | Rolling Stone |
| #19 | / | Consequence of Sound |
| #24 | / | Gigwise |
| #25 | / | Pitchfork |
| #26 | / | eMusic |
| #28 | / | Stereogum |
| #31 | / | The Guardian |
| #36 | / | No Ripcord |
More Lists
MISC LISTS
| #3 | / | Exclaim! (Hip Hop) |
| #20 | / | Pitchfork Readers |
| #41 | / | Pitchfork (2010-2014) |
Track List
- Tuscan Leather
- Furthest Thing
- Started From the Bottom
- Wu-Tang Forever
- Own It
- Worst Behavior
- From Time
- Hold On, We're Going Home
- Connect
- The Language
- 305 to My City [ft. Detail]
- Too Much
- Pound Cake [ft. Jay-Z]/Paris Morton Music 2
In Library (87)
Added on: June 22, 2013
