A&E

Album review: Drake’s ‘Nothing Was the Same’

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Shea Serrano

Three and a half stars

Drake Nothing Was the Same

These days, even Drake’s most minor moments—the release of the tracklist, a picture of him at a video shoot—grow into their own entities, fodder for memes and Tumblr bait. It comes as no surprise then that his third album, Nothing Was the Same, arrives with the velocity reserved for only the most powerful rappers. It does come as a surprise, however, that it is (mostly) capable of keeping pace with the hype.

From the surprisingly clever “Started From the Bottom” to the overwhelmingly velvety “Wu-Tang Forever,” Drake is as he as always been: responsible only to his emotions. There’s a moment on standout “Own It” where Drake laments, “Next time we f*ck, I don’t wanna f*ck, I wanna make love.” It’s not the sort of thing you’d traditionally hear from a rapper, but it’s the sort of thing Drake says all the time. Nothing Was the Same is little more than a name. Drake gon’ be Drake, so you can’t blame Aubrey.

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