Thank Me Later is the debut studio album by the Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on June 15, 2010, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records. Production for the album took place at various recording studios during 2009 to 2010 and was mostly produced by longtime collaborators 40 and Boi-1da. It features contributions from Alicia Keys, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, The-Dream, and Kanye West, among others.
Thank Me Later has a languorous, ambient production that incorporates moody synthesizers, sparse beats, obscured keyboards, minor keys, and subtle arrangements. Thematically, the album focuses on Drake's introduction to fame and his romances over the course of confessional, club-oriented, and sexual songs. Drake's emotionally transparent, self-deprecating lyrics are delivered in both rapped and subtly sung verses, and explore feelings of doubt, insecurity, and heartbreak.
Following an anticipated release, Thank Me Later debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 447,000 copies in the US, eventually selling 1.8 million copies there by August 2015. It also topped the Canadian Albums Chart and attained a platinum certification in Canada in its debut week. All four of the album's singles became top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Find Your Love" reaching number five. Reviews of Thank Me Later were generally positive, with critics applauding Drake's personal themes and drawing musical comparisons to the works of Kid Cudi and West, particularly the latter's 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak. It later ranked as one of 2010's best albums. The album received a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Background Released in February 2009, Drake's mixtape So Far Gone proceeded his series of early mixtapes and achieved unexpected critical and commercial success, earning him two Grammy Award-nominations and producing the hit single "Best I Ever Had". The single reappeared on his debut EP,Reid, Shaheem. Rodriguez, Jayson. Drake's Thank Me Later Among Our Top Five Most-Anticipated Rap Debuts . MTV. Retrieved June 15, 2010. which was released after a bidding competition among labels and his signing with Universal Motown Records amid support from high-profile hip hop artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne.Kellman, Andy. [ Biography: Drake]. AllMusic. Retrieved June 20, 2010. Drake followed-up on So Far Gones success with several guest appearances on other rappers' works, adding to the hype surrounding him at the time.
In an interview for Complex, Drake stated that his debut album will be "a solid hip hop album" and musically distinct from his So Far Gone mixtape, which received negative comparisons to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak (2008). He expressed a desire to work with André 3000, Kid Cudi, and Sade for the album.Drake, Eminem "Talking About" Another Collaboration. MTV. Retrieved November 10, 2012. In an interview for MTV, Drake cited Nas and André 3000 as influences for parts of Thank Me Later, stating "Nas was somebody that I used to listen to his raps and never understood how he did it. I always wanted to understand how he painted those pictures and his bar structure. I went back and really studied Nas and André 3000 and then came back with this album". In comparing the album to his previous work, he stated "It's gonna be bigger, it's gonna sound happier. More victorious, 'cause that's where I'm at in my life".Rodriguez, Jayson. Drake Says Thank Me Later Influenced By Nas, Andre 3000 . MTV. Retrieved June 20, 2010. He told Entertainment Weekly that, "I didn't make this album for commercial purposes. A lot of the verses are extremely long. I just made it to share with people. I hope they can enjoy".
Recording and production
Drake resumed work on the album in October 2009, following an onstage injury from a July 2009 concert. Recording sessions for the album took place at several recording studios, including Metalworks Studios, BLD&DSTRY, and Cherry Beach Studios in Toronto, NightBird Recording Studios in West Hollywood, Gee Jam Studios in Portland, Jamaica, The Setai Hotel Recording Studio and The Hit Factory in Miami, Blast Off Studios and Rock the Mic in New York, Glenwood Studios in Los Angeles, Triangle Sounds Studios in Atlanta, Takeover Studios in Houston, and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu. The track "Up All Night" was recorded on a bus "somewhere in Lexington", and "Unforgettable" was recorded on a bus "somewhere in New Orleans". The album was mixed at Tree Sound Studios, Blast Off Studios, Gee Jam Studios, Cherry Beach Studios, The Setai Hotel Recording Studio, Metalworks Studios, Stadium Red in New York, and Studio 306 in Toronto. Lil Wayne, Cortez Bryant, Gee Roberson, Ronald "Slim" Williams, Oliver El-Khatib, Noah "40" Shebib, Derrick "E.I." Lawrence, Jas Prince, and Bryan "Birdman" Williams served as executive producers for the album.Drake's Thank Me Later Thank You's . RapRadar. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
Producers 40 and Boi-1da handled most of the tracks' programming and instrumentation. Besides his Toronto-based producer team, Drake also collaborated with European producer Crada, who previously worked on Kid Cudi's 2009 debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Drake told Entertainment Weekly that he collaborated with an indie pop band named Francis and the Lights.5 Things You Should Know About Drake's Album 'Thank Me Later' . Rap-Up. Retrieved June 17, 2010. Kevin Rudolf also participated in the album's recording,MikeyFresh. A Short Convo With... Kevin Rudolf . Vibe. Retrieved June 12, 2010. contributing with keyboards on "Show Me a Good Time" and "Find Your Love". R&B singer Mary J. Blige contributed additional vocals to the track "Fancy". In March 2010, Drake confirmed that he had recorded a track with Eminem and Dr. Dre.Drake Grabs Eminem & Dr Dre For Debut Album . Rap Basement. Retrieved June 20, 2010. In early November 2009, Lil Wayne released an official statement explaining that Thank Me Later had been completed, though Drake later commented that he was still working on the album. On April 26, 2010, Drake announced to a crowd during a show that he had finished recording and had turned in a final copy of the album.Drake Finishes "Thank Me Later," Reveals Next Single . The Boombox. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
Music and lyrics
Thank Me Later has a languorous, ambient production and is characterized by subtle arrangements, obscured keyboards, skittering snare drums, and reverbed percussion. Lyrically, Thank Me Later has moody, introspective subject matter, and mainly centers around Drake's introduction to fame and his romances. The Toronto Star describes the content as "about the sorts of doubts, excesses, betrayals and creeping paranoid suspicions that arrive hand-in-hand with celebrity". Music journalist Greg Kot describes the album as "personal and eccentric, the journal of a flawed, self-doubting regular guy rather than a strutting icon-in-waiting".
The album's first-half generally discusses fame directly with confessional songs about unrequited love, money, and women, followed by club-oriented and sexual songs. Drake's lyrics explore feelings of doubt, insecurity, and heartbreak, while exhibiting both emotional and grammatical malapropisms. He raps in a nasal voice and sings subtly, with a flow generally in A-B-AB form. Music journalist Jody Rosen observes "emotionally transparent" rapping that eschews the "thuggy" style previously popular in hip hop, finding Drake's style to be "subtle and rueful rather than loud and lively".
Music writers liken Thank Me Later to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. Nathan Rabin writes that, "musically, Drake favors warm washes of synthesizers that create a melancholy, fragile mood redolent of 808s & Heartbreak." Comparisons are also drawn to Man on the Moon: The End of Day by Kid Cudi, a protégé of West. By contrast, Joshua Ostroff of The Globe and Mail feels that Thank Me Laters "emotional navel-gazing lacks West's often-suffocating self-pity and offers a proper synthesis of rap and R&B." Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times views that the album ignores West's celebratory side "in search of anthems for the easily alienated".
"Fireworks" references the divorce of Drake's parents and alludes to his brief fling with Rihanna. "Karaoke" features background keyboards that add to the song's 1980s musical influence, with lyrics about the difficulty of relationships. In "The Resistance", Drake worries about fame changing him, with lyrics veering from his ailing grandmother to a one-night stand that resulted in an abortion. "Over" incorporates an orchestral backdrop, and according to Michael Cragg of MusicOMH, contains three hooks. The artful song is about the elation and confusion that accompanies fame. "Show Me a Good Time" opens and closes with a squeaky yelling sound. On the song, Drake talks addresses hip hop listeners who find him inauthentic. "Up All Night" has menacing strings, and Drake boastfully rapping about his nightlife, while trading lines with Nicki Minaj. The club song "Fancy" has a predominant hook, looped samples, and backwards strings. It is an ode to women who spend hours primping in preparation for the nightlife. The song features vocals by producer Swizz Beatz and T.I., with additional harmonies by Mary J. Blige at the song's conclusion. "Shut It Down" is a progressive soul song, in the manner of a piano ballad and slow jam.
"Light Up" features loud synth drums and plaintive piano strings. The Jay-Z-collaboration is a critique on the hip hop industry, its detrimental effects, and the trappings of being an artist: "While all my closest friends out partyin'/ I'm just here makin' the music that they party to," while Jay-Z gives advice: "Drake, here's how they gonna come at you / with silly rap feuds, trying to distract you." Jay-Z expands on the album's overarching theme of self-doubt: "And since no good deed go unpunished / I'm not as cool with niggaz as I once was / I once was cool as the Fonz was / But these bright lights turned me to a monster." "Miss Me" has Lil Wayne rapping jokes, including a crude punch line about sucking "the brown" off his penis and subsequently groaning, "Ewwww, that's nasty." "Cece's Interlude" has a Prince-like LinnDrum and transparent lyrics addressing a girl: "I wish I / Wasn't famous / I wish I / Was still in school / So that I could have you in my dorm room / I would put it on you crazy." The pop song "Find Your Love" was produced by Kanye West and bears similarity to his 2008 song "Heartless".
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