{"id":4615,"date":"2015-02-28T23:57:32","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T23:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.culturedallroundman.com\/?p=4615"},"modified":"2015-03-01T16:21:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T16:21:13","slug":"drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drake<\/a><\/p>\n

The surprise release of Drake\u2019s If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em>\u00a0came, a couple of weeks ago, precisely on the eve of the sixth anniversary of 2009\u2019s So Far Gone<\/em>,\u00a0the mixtape that established his credentials as one of this generation\u2019s preeminent rappers. So Far Gone<\/em> led to Drake signing with Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money headed\u00a0by Lil Wayne, with whom Drake was already a frequent collaborator.<\/p>\n

Two contextual issues have marked the response to If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em>. The first involves the ongoing lawsuit between Lil Wayne and Cash Money \u2013 and Cash Money\u2019s founder, Birdman \u2013 relating to issues of copyright and the delayed release of Wayne\u2019s Tha Carter V<\/em>. In January Lil Wayne filed a suit seeking the termination of his contract with Cash Money; $51 million in damages, citing money owed; and joint copyright over everything Young Money Entertainment has hitherto released. Wayne\u2019s lawsuit thereby implicates Drake and Nicki Minaj, Young Money\u2019s two biggest stars; and there are suggestions that both\u00a0have fallen out with Birdman and Cash Money over personal differences and unpaid royalties. The sudden appearance of Drake\u2019s record has been interpreted\u00a0as a cursory attempt to fulfil contractual obligations; with its title read as a scarcely coded message directed at Birdman.<\/p>\n

The second context revolves around the surprise nature of the release and its uncertain form: ostensibly put out as a mixtape, it has been embraced in essence as Drake\u2019s fourth album proper, and the follow-up to 2013\u2019s Nothing Was the Same<\/em>. Discussing this debate on Twitter, the music writer Craig Jenkins<\/a> suggested:<\/p>\n

\u2018The distinction between albums, mixtapes and EPs is 100% a matter of marketing intent, ie. how badly the artist wants you to buy the product.<\/em><\/p>\n

You drop a \u201cmixtape\u201d when you\u2019re spitballing ideas out of sight of the charts or trying to regain some lost industry cachet.<\/em><\/p>\n

You drop an \u201cEP\u201d when you think you\u2019ve got your sound down and wanna float a more prestigious project to retail w\/o the critics harshing you.<\/em><\/p>\n

You drop the \u201calbum\u201d when you are ready to rest your reputation on a single body of work.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\n






\n

\" data-test-selector=\"ProfileTimelineTweet\"><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
These seem like sound definitions \u2013 with the addendum that EPs are perhaps the most diversely utilised of the three forms. They\u00a0may be used predominantly to promote upcoming albums, even as album tie-ins, or to tide fans over between full-length releases; but there remains a tradition of \u2018split-side\u2019 EPs, affording artists the opportunity to share a release with labelmates or other artists who complement or intriguingly contrast with their work; and occasionally the shorter form allows EPs to be more more tautly conceptualised than albums. Whatever, Jenkins\u2019 wider point was that where these distinctions hold, they pertain as much to economics and the business of music criticism than to matters of artistic intention and interpretation. And as the boundaries inevitably blur, the format debate has increasingly little impact upon how we actually listen to and enjoy and ultimately evaluate music.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As for the surprise factor, the pivotal release in this context was Beyonc\u00e9<\/em> at the close of 2013. Beyond the strengths of Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s album \u2013 as she explored new sonic territory, with a lush sound palette, looser vocals, and songs split into discrete parts; her subject matter flowing between her married bedroom, and a public sphere implicating women\u2019s rights and the standing of women in the entertainment industry \u2013 Beyonc\u00e9<\/em> has attained its reputation as a groundbreaking work in large part for arriving unannounced, and accompanied by seventeen videos.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

To some extent, this sudden manner of release is an inevitable result of albums leaking over the internet. In December, Madonna was compelled to make available the first six songs from her upcoming\u00a0Rebel Heart<\/em> owing to the leak in spates of assorted demos. Then in January, just one week after announcing a March release date, leaks encouraged\u00a0Bj\u00f6rk to immediately release the magnificent\u00a0Vulnicura<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A case like\u00a0Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s may well have occurred regardless; but Beyonc\u00e9<\/em> undoubtedly signalled a decisive shift in the way major label stars conceive the release of their works. The old mode of setting a release date and advertising towards it has dissolved: a sudden release now serves as a means of promotion in its own right, as news spreads organically and from the ground up via the word of mouth of social media. Already this year new singles by Kanye West and Rihanna have emerged in a similar fashion, suddenly, with fragments first heard at fashion shows or performed live on television, videos teased on talk shows, and behind-the-scenes film footage put out via YouTube. The release of music today is increasingly a surreptitious and continuous affair, a multimedia and multispace endeavour revelling in the ceaseless (if short-spanning) attention of listeners.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, charging for what is professedly a mixtape is an interesting move. With DatPiff.com<\/a> and competitors making so much rap and R&B available for free, serving to level the playing field while allowing aspiring talent \u2013 including Chance The Rapper, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug, and Tink \u2013 to thrive, going the iTunes route was something of a risk. The tendency has been for mixtapes to appear for free \u2013 with artists using them as a means to establish themselves, to offer personal or unorthodox material, or for a credibility boost following a fallow period or critical or popular disdain \u2013 with some works receiving major label releases at a later date, provided they have received sufficient acclaim. This is a path taken previously by Terius Nash: 1977<\/em>, for instance; and it was at one point the plan for ASAP Rocky\u2019s Live.Love.ASAP<\/em>, upon his signing with RCA and Polo Grounds Music. The\u00a0So Far Gone<\/em> mixtape was itself reformulated and reissued by Young Money as a shortened seven-track EP in September 2009.<\/p>\n

In fact, DatPiff.com\u2019s founder Kyle \u2018KP\u2019 Reilly has suggested that there were early negotiations towards making If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em> a free release. Cash Money apparently intervened, and came to a compromise with the artist. The success of the approach taken has been immediately clear. In the first week of its release, Drake\u2019s mixtape sold 495,000 copies and topped the Billboard 200. And this week all seventeen of the mixtape\u2019s tracks have charted on\u00a0Billboard\u2019s Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs. With Drake featuring on four more hits, he has twenty-one songs on the chart in total: obliterating the chart\u2019s previous record of fourteen.<\/p>\n

Musically,\u00a0If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em> stands up to\u00a0all this scrutiny. This is a late night album, with darkly looped synths, scattered samples, and beats which alternately stutter and hesitate then burst forward in brief spurts of momentum before again coming to a pause. In the space which the restrained production allows, Drake eschews the woozy atmospherics characteristic of his compatriot The Weeknd for a more focused outlook: with a present and thematically consistent set of lyrics; concentrated upon modulating and refining his verbal flow.<\/p>\n

\u2018Legend\u2019 opens on a slowly reverberating rhythm and Drake\u2019s spectral voice, which cohabits the song with samples from Ginuwine\u2019s \u2018So Anxious\u2019. The mixtape\u2019s opener does serve as a sort of manifesto for what follows, in so far as it begins on a note of confrontation, with Drake rhyming \u2018When I pull up on a nigga tell that nigga back, back \/ I\u2019m too good with these words watch a nigga backtrack\u2019; sees Drake with bold confidence declaring \u2018I got this shit mapped out strong\u2019; but also has him admitting \u2018It\u2019s so hard for me to let new people in\u2019.<\/p>\n

Beyond the occasional reference to missing cheques, If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em> is marked, not by anger, but by distance. Drake adopts a covetous persona, fiercely proud of his accomplishments and just as eager to ensure that nobody muscles in on his position at the pinnacle of popular music. There have already been numerous attempts to decipher all of the disses on the record: towards Tyga and Diddy, and perhaps also towards Kendrick Lamar, who has directed several lyrics at Drake amid a half-playful attempt to reignite the hip-hop feud as a micro-genre. Further than this there seems among some commentators the inclination to scan every reference to a fellow rapper as a slight. Broadly, over piano keys, the hook to \u2018Energy\u2019\u00a0sees Drake affirming \u2018I got enemies, got a lot of enemies \/ Got a lot of people tryna drain me of my energy\u2019.<\/p>\n

But more than keeping his distance from other\u00a0artists, there is Drake\u2019s distance from the wider world. On \u2018Energy\u2019 he states \u2018Fuck going online, that ain\u2019t part of my day\u2019 \u2013 a cutting throwaway, considering how pivotal the online community has been to his career, a key facet of his art always subsisting in its interplay with online trends, and the release of his first three mixtapes\u00a0gaining him a significant audience via the internet. More, Drake\u00a0can rap about running through Toronto with his \u2018WOEs\u2019, but at the same time depicts himself locked up in his studio, isolated and accepting no calls. Toronto is at the forefront of If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em>, its various locales repeatedly referenced and portrayed in relation to Drake\u2019s life and upbringing; but as on \u2018Uptown\u2019 from So Far Gone<\/em>, he offers his representing on Toronto\u2019s behalf in place of his regular physical presence in the city.<\/p>\n

Throughout Drake\u2019s flow is casual and loosely experimental while his tone remains resolute.\u00a0\u201910 Bands\u2019 is one of the tape\u2019s most driving and hypnotic cuts, with breaking percussion and a climax of sorts as Drake revels in his city having him \u2018feelin\u2019 like the one again\u2019. His vocal stylings on \u2018Know Yourself\u2019 clearly echo those\u00a0of\u00a0Young Thug \u2013 Birdman\u2019s latest prot\u00e9g\u00e9,\u00a0along with Rich Homie Quan<\/a>. \u2018No Tellin\u201d really comes alive in its final third, with Drake\u2019s robotically rhythmic lines, delivered over mechanised soul, including the demand \u2018Please do not speak to me like I\u2019m that Drake from four years ago I\u2019m at a higher place\u2019.<\/p>\n

After such a strong\u00a0first\u00a0five tracks, \u2018Madonna\u2019 and \u20186 God\u2019 merely keep the tape ticking over. \u2018Star67\u2019 begins in the same vein, but then opens\u00a0out with a change in tempo and Drake\u2019s lingering voice transferring into song.\u00a0Then on \u2018Preach\u2019, with its wobbly bass, industrial clanging, and rapidfire beats, PARTYNEXTDOOR arrives with a vocoder to give If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late<\/em> new impetus. While this and the follow up, \u2018Wednesday Night Interlude\u2019, comprise two of the chillest pieces on the record, still Drake offers paranoid sentiments like \u2018I am convinced that my calls are being recorded\u2019; and he continues to navigate a relationship with women that veers from distrust and disinterest to their being on his mind \u201924\/7\u2032.<\/p>\n

\u2018Used To\u2019 features Lil Wayne; \u2018Now & Forever\u2019 has Drake labouring over an interesting instrumental \u2013 which includes industrial sounds, ethereal spliced vocals, and a looped sample from Nas and Ginuwine\u2019s \u2018You Owe Me\u2019 \u2013 conceivably in relation to his split with Cash Money; and \u2018Company\u2019 has Travis Scott on the microphone and contributing to the production.<\/p>\n

As the mixtape comes to a close \u2013 before the melancholy soul of \u2018Jungle\u2019 and the triumphant finale of \u20186PM In New York\u2019 \u2013 \u2018You & The 6\u2019 has Drake open up through a sustained address to his mother. Mother songs in the realm of rap are destined always to be compared to Tupac\u2019s \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 \u2013 and Tupac, always occupying a central position, has recently returned to the forefront of the form courtesy of Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u2018Keep Ya Head Up\u2019-referencing \u2018The Blacker the Berry\u2019 \u2013 but the intimacy of Drake\u2019s address makes the comparison apt in this case. In a manner that quickly becomes conversational, in the first verse of the song Drake attempts to reassure his mother, doing his best to deflect her concerns and come to a mutual understanding regarding his romantic life. The beat shuffles, and Drake\u2019s voice is replete with sighs and hesitations before he thanks his mother for raising him well.<\/p>\n

In the second verse, Drake brings his father into the discussion. He notes that his father \u2018made mistakes throughout his life\u2019, but realises \u2018he just want our forgiveness, and fuck it look how we living \/ I\u2019m content with this story, who are we not to forgive him?\u2019. Recalling his father spending time in prison, and his younger self rapping over the phone to his father\u2019s fellow inmates, Drake considers \u2018now I got me a Grammy, that could be part of the reason \/ Let\u2019s just call this shit even, we got some things to believe in\u2019. Utterly eschewing simpler concepts of being wrought through struggle, and overcoming the perpetual strife and bragging of rap, Drake momentarily offers a calm, submissive graciousness which rarely finds expression in any art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The surprise release of Drake\u2019s If You\u2019re Reading This It\u2019s Too Late\u00a0came, a couple of weeks ago, precisely on the eve of the sixth anniversary of 2009\u2019s So Far Gone,\u00a0the mixtape that established his credentials as one of this generation\u2019s preeminent rappers. So Far Gone led to Drake signing with Young Money Entertainment, an imprint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3880],"tags":[3797,3796,3798,2625],"class_list":{"0":"post-4615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music","7":"tag-album-review","8":"tag-drake","9":"tag-new-musi","10":"tag-rap"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nDrake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Culturedarm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/culturedallroundman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Laws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/culturedarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Laws\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christopher Laws\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9034b985ef3e4c9cea454b05beb6a4f5\"},\"headline\":\"Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\"},\"wordCount\":2199,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Drake\",\"New Musi\",\"Rap\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Music\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\",\"name\":\"Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/\",\"name\":\"Culturedarm\",\"description\":\"Where the Strands of Culture Entwine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Culturedarm\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Culturedarm-Key-Logo.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Culturedarm-Key-Logo.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":2000,\"caption\":\"Culturedarm\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9034b985ef3e4c9cea454b05beb6a4f5\",\"name\":\"Christopher Laws\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a2f9388be3e41f27f43fe51224069a624b67a359c37fc47507eebac44221719?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a2f9388be3e41f27f43fe51224069a624b67a359c37fc47507eebac44221719?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Laws\"},\"description\":\"Christopher Laws is the writer and editor of Culturedarm, currently based in Ume\u00e5, Sweden.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/culturedallroundman\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/culturedarm\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/culturedarm\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late","description":"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late","og_description":"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.","og_url":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/","og_site_name":"Culturedarm","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/culturedallroundman","article_published_time":"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Christopher Laws","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/culturedarm","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Laws","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/"},"author":{"name":"Christopher Laws","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9034b985ef3e4c9cea454b05beb6a4f5"},"headline":"Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late","datePublished":"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/"},"wordCount":2199,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg","keywords":["Album Review","Drake","New Musi","Rap"],"articleSection":["Music"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/","url":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/","name":"Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-28T23:57:32+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-01T16:21:13+00:00","description":"A review of Drake's new mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Setting the release in context, and viewing Drake's vocal experimentation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Drake-If-Youre-Reading-This.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/drake-if-youre-reading-this-its-too-late\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/","name":"Culturedarm","description":"Where the Strands of Culture Entwine","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#organization","name":"Culturedarm","url":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Culturedarm-Key-Logo.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/culturedarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Culturedarm-Key-Logo.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1","width":2000,"height":2000,"caption":"Culturedarm"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9034b985ef3e4c9cea454b05beb6a4f5","name":"Christopher Laws","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a2f9388be3e41f27f43fe51224069a624b67a359c37fc47507eebac44221719?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a2f9388be3e41f27f43fe51224069a624b67a359c37fc47507eebac44221719?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Christopher Laws"},"description":"Christopher Laws is the writer and editor of Culturedarm, currently based in Ume\u00e5, Sweden.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.culturedarm.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/culturedallroundman","http:\/\/instagram.com\/culturedarm","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/culturedarm"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pg4g5X-1cr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4615"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4870,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions\/4870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}