Things get under way with ‘Tuscan Leather,’ six minutes of three different beats and no choruses. ‘Wu-Tang Forever‘ (samples the chorus of the Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘ It’s Yours’ and then bleeds into ‘Own It’ with its refrain of “Guess whose it is?/It’s yours.” Touches like this make it clear that Nothing Was the Same is not just a collection of songs it was conceived of as an album. Combined with the consistency of the production, the amorphous song structure helps make the album feel all of one piece. One of 40’s best tricks is to flip the track halfway through, either so it sounds like a totally new song (‘Tuscan Leather’ or ‘Furthest Thing’) or as a more subtle metamorphosis that continues the song’s mood but takes it in a new direction (‘Connect’ or the excellent bonus track ‘Come Thru’). Many of the songs don’t follow a normal verse-chorus-verse formula. Drake’s OVO Sound partner, the producer Noah “40″ Shebib, produces or co-produces eight of the nine first tracks and the producers of the remaining songs largely follow his signature moody, subdued production template. The guest list is limited to a handful of singers and a single rapper (Jay-Z, who drops a typically pedestrian verse on ‘Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2’). That unity is largely achieved by eliminating outside influences. 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. Drake is the antithesis of those expectations and maybe being the subject or countless memes and punchlines has hardened him.
While he enjoys huge popularity, it’s nearly matched by disdain from the traditionalist segment of the rap audience, who expect their rap to be unemotional and violent and their rappers to come from real poverty. The title refers to the change that fame brought to Drake’s circumstances, but the lyrical theme of the album is that he himself is the one thing that’s still the same.
Drake sounds like he’s finally found his footing in his new life. That’s still largely the theme of his new album, Nothing Was the Same, but the tone is no longer so wounded or conflicted. On Thank Me Later and Take Care, Drake struggled to reconcile his old life and relationships with his new found fame.
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