If You're Reading This It's Too Late

If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Mixtape by Drake
Released	February 13, 2015
Recorded	2013–15
Studio	Rap-A-Lot Studios in Houston, Sandra Gale Studio at The YOLO Estate in Hidden Hills, SOTA Studios in Los Angeles
Genre	Hip hop trap
Length	68:40
Label	Cash Money Young Money OVO Sound Republic
Producer	Aubrey "Drake" Graham (exec.) Noah "40" Shebib (also exec.) Boi-1da (also exec.) PartyNextDoor OB O'Brien Sevn Thomas Vinylz Syk Sense Frank Dukes NYLZ Most High Amir Obe Seza WondaGurl Daxz Eric Dingus Jimmy Prime Travis Scott TM88 Illmind
Drake chronology
Nothing Was the Same (2013) If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015) What a Time to Be Alive (2015)
Singles from If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
"Preach" Released: March 29, 2015[1] "Energy" Released: July 10, 2015[2]

If You're Reading This It's Too Late is the fourth mixtape^[3][4][5][6] by Canadian recording artist Drake. It was released through the iTunes Store without prior announcement on February 13, 2015, by Cash Money Records. The physical edition of the project was released by Cash Money as well as OVO Sound and Republic Records.^[7] There was a debate whether this project is a mixtape or a studio album, as it was released commercially through his record label, while Drake himself referred to the project as a mixtape.^[8][9][10]

It received positive reviews and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with three-day sales of 495,000 copies and 40,000 for online streaming credits, making this Drake's fourth time at the top of the chart. The album also broke Spotify's first-week streaming record with over 17.3 million streams in the first three days.^[11] The record was previously held by Drake himself, with his album Nothing Was the Same (2013), with 15.146 million streams in the first week.

Background

In July 2014, Drake announced the title of his fourth studio album to be Views from the 6, on which recording had reportedly not begun.^[12] In November 2014, in an interview, Toronto Raptors basketball player DeMar DeRozan mentioned that Drake is intending to release a mixtape for January 2015.^[13] On February 12, 2015, Drake released a short film titled Jungle,^[14] which featured snippets of new songs such as "Know Yourself" and "Jungle".^[15]

In an interview with HipHopDX, DatPiff founder Kyle Reilly revealed that Drake was initially in talks to release If You're Reading This It's Too Late as a free download on DatPiff hosted by DJ Drama, before Cash Money Records intervened.^[16] Due to its release via digital download outlets such as iTunes and Amazon Music as well as physically in vinyl and CD formats, contractually it is considered his fourth studio album for Cash Money Records.^[17][18]

Release and promotion

On February 12, 2015, the album was tweeted as an iTunes link from Drake's Twitter. It also was uploaded to OVO Sound's official SoundCloud account, but was quickly removed. It was released onto the iTunes Store on February 13, 2015 by Cash Money Records.^[19]

Drake hinted on his instagram account of an alternate version of the project by DJ Candlestick and hosted by OG Ron C, titled If You're Choppin' This It's Too Late.^[20] This version was later released on April 14.^[21] The physical version of the album was also released on April 21, with two bonus tracks "How About Now" and "My Side" in stores as "collector's edition".^[22]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[23]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[24]
The A.V. Club	B–[25]
Consequence of Sound	B+[26]
Exclaim!	8/10[27]
The Guardian	[28]
Los Angeles Times	[29]
Pitchfork Media	8.3/10[30]
Rolling Stone	[31]
Spin	7/10[32]
The Telegraph	[33]

Upon its release, If You're Reading This It's Too Late received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78 based on 33 reviews .^[23] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph said "Drake is amongst the most musically and lyrical progressive proponents of his chosen medium, bringing a level of educated artiness and psychological self-awareness to a genre too often reliant on big beats and braggadocio."^[33] Eric Zaworski of Exclaim! praised the release's production, writing that it "revels in the hazy drone of the 'Toronto Sound' that OVO's 40 and Boi-1da helped define, with offerings from up-and-comers like Brampton's WondaGurl and PRIME's Eric Dingus rounding it out."^[27] Paul Lester of The Guardian said "the former child TV star comes out fighting, amid machinegun fire, complaining about everyone from his peers to his family – but he convinces more as the original sad rapper."^[28] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone said "For the first time in his career, Drake doesn't sound like he wants to be remembered as one of the greats. This time, he just is."^[31]

Year-end lists

The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.^[34]

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
The Guardian	The Best Albums of 2015	2015	14[35]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2015		3[36]
	40 Best Rap Albums of 2015		2[37]
NME	NME'S Albums of the Year 2015		23[38]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2015		17[39]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2015		25[40]

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result
2015	BET Hip Hop Awards[41]	Album of the Year	Nominated
	Billboard Music Awards[42]	Top Rap Album	Nominated
2016	Grammy Awards[43]	Best Rap Album	Nominated

Track listing

If You're Reading This It's Too Late — CD[44] – digital download[45]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Legend"	Aubrey Graham Jahron Brathwaite Yung Nate Quentin Miller Timothy Mosley Stephen Garrett Benjamin Bush	PARTYNEXTDOOR	4:01
2.	"Energy"	Graham Matthew Samuels Matthew "OB" O'Brien Eric Wright Lorenzo Patterson Andre Young Antoine Carraby	Boi-1da OB O'Brien^[a]	3:01
3.	"10 Bands"	Graham Samuels Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Jr. Miller Adam Feeney Stephen "Ransom" Hacker	Boi-1da Sevn Thomas^[a]	2:57
4.	"Know Yourself"	Graham Miller Hacker Anderson Hernandez Joshua "Syk Sense" Scruggs Malcolm Nichols	Boi-1da Vinylz^[a] Syk Sense^[a]	4:35
5.	"No Tellin'"	Graham Samuels Feeney Hacker Miller Kenza Samir	Boi-1da Frank Dukes^[a]	5:10
6.	"Madonna"	Graham Noah "40" Shebib Mosley Garrett Bush	40	4:08
7.	"6 God"	Graham Samuels Scruggs David Wise	Boi-1da Syk Sense	3:00
8.	"Star67"	Graham Hernandez Hacker Shebib	Vinylz	4:55
9.	"Preach" (featuring PartyNextDoor)	Graham Brathwaite Alicia Augello-Cook Kerry Brothers, Jr. Edwin Jantunen Shebib Ciara Harris Nayvadius Wilburn Michael Williams II	PARTYNEXTDOOR	3:56
10.	"Wednesday Night Interlude" (featuring PartyNextDoor)	Brathwaite	PARTYNEXTDOOR	3:32
11.	"Used To" (featuring Lil Wayne)	Graham Dwayne Carter, Jr. Ebony "WondaGurl" Oshunrinde Kyle Francis Miller Samir	WondaGurl	4:28
12.	"6 Man"	Graham Shebib Miller Tariq Trotter Ahmir Thompson Scott Storch Jill Scott	40 Daxz^[a]	2:47
13.	"Now & Forever"	Graham Eric Dingus Jimmy Prime	Dingus Prime	4:41
14.	"Company" (featuring Travi$ Scott)	Graham Jahron Brathwaite Jacques Webster Oshunrinde Byron Simmons	WondaGurl TM88 Travi$ Scott	4:12
15.	"You & the 6"	Graham Samuels Shebib Ramon Ilbanga, Jr. Hacker	Boi-1da 40^[a] Illmind^[a]	4:24
16.	"Jungle"	Graham Shebib Samir Gabriel Garzón-Montano	40	5:20
17.	"6PM in New York" (Bonus track)	Graham Samuels Feeney Thomas, Jr. Samir	Boi-1da Frank Dukes^[a] Sevn Thomas^[a]	4:43
Total length:				68:40

If You're Reading This It's Too Late – Physical version (bonus tracks)[44]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
18.	"How About Now"	Graham Hacker Samuels Jordan Evans Donald DeGrate	Ransom Boi-1da Evans	3:55
19.	"My Side"	Graham Samuels	Boi-1da	4:40
Total length:				76:35

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer.

Sample credits

• Both tracks "Legend" and "Madonna" contain samples from "So Anxious", written by Timothy Mosley, Stephen Garrett, Benjamin Bush, performed by Ginuwine.
• "Preach" contains samples from "Body Party", written by Ciara Harris, Nayvadius Wilburn, Michael Williams II, performed by Ciara, as well as "Stay" performed by Henry Krinkle.
• Both tracks "Wednesday Night Interlude" and "Preach" contain excerpts of "Unfaith" performed by Ekali.
• "Energy" contains samples from "Eazy-Duz-It", written by Eric Wright, Lorenzo Patterson, Andre Young, Antoine Carraby, performed by Eazy-E and "Ridin' Spinners" performed by Three 6 Mafia.
• "Know Yourself" contains samples from "Tinted Glass" performed by Network.
• "No Tellin'" contains excerpts of "No Talk" performed by River Tiber.^[46]
• "6 God" contains samples from "Haunted Chase" (from the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack), written by David Wise.
• "6 Man" contains an interpolation from "You Got Me", written by Tariq Trotter, Ahmir Thompson, Scott Storch and Jill Scott, performed by The Roots.
• "Jungle" contains samples from "6 8", written and performed by Gabriel Garzón-Montano.
• "How About Now" contains samples of "My Heart Belongs To U", written by Donald DeGrate, performed by Jodeci.

Charts

Commercial performance

If You're Reading This It's Too Late debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 37,000 copies in its first week.^[47] The album also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 535,000 copies in total, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.^[48] The mixtape was also streamed 17.3 million times on Spotify, breaking Drake's own record that was made with Nothing Was the Same's debut week.^[49] Because of the album, Drake also became the first rapper to top Billboard's Artist 100 chart.^[50] As of December 2015, the album has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States.^[51]

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[52] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[53] 20 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[54] 31 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[55] 47 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[56] 1 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[57] 6 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[58] 15 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[59] 30 French Albums (SNEP)[60] 55 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[61] 89 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[62] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[63] 14 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[64] 16 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[65] 7 UK Albums (OCC)[66] 3 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[67] 1 US Billboard 200[68] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[69] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[70] 57 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[71] 5 US Billboard 200[72] 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[73] 1 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[74] Platinum 80,000 Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[75] Gold 10,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[76] Gold 100,000 United States (RIAA)[77] 2× Platinum 1,142,000[51] ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2015 (Canada)
• List of UK R&B Chart number-one albums of 2015
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2015
• List of Billboard number-one R&B/Hip-Hop albums of 2015

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