Drake’s ‘Nothing Was The Same’ By The Numbers
Numbers are important to Drake: times, area codes and dollar amounts fill his music with about as much frequency as shout-outs to his hometown of Toronto. On his lush, ambitious new album Nothing Was The Same, Drake is taking us back to zero, dialing back some of the excesses of his first two albums and attempting to craft a record that cuts to the core of who Aubrey Graham really is. There's a reason the album's cover art features a baby Drizzy gazing off into the clouds at his older reflection.
While we're still digesting the record, which leaked late last night but doesn't officially hit the streets until September 24, XXL decided to break down the album by looking at the cold hard facts. It's tough to separate Drake from emotions, but we did it here, taking apart Nothing Was The Same by the numbers.
Number Of Days It Leaked Before The Release Date: 8
Number Of Featured Guests: 7
Jhené Aiko
Majid Jordan
Detail
Sampha
Jay Z
Big Sean
2 Chainz
Amount Of time He Actually Spent On The Intro: 6:06
Number Of Times Wu-Tang Clan Is Mentioned: 5
"I sip the pourer and listen to Cappadonna/The Fresh Prince just had dinner with Tatyana, no lie" - "Tuscan Leather"
“Bitch you better have my money when I come for the shit like O.D.B.” - "Worst Behavior"
"And how I switched it up with a new thang/Young nigga came through on his Wu-Tang" - "Wu-Tang Forever"
"Machine gun raps for all my niggas in the back/Stadium packed, just glad to see the city on the map" - "Wu-Tang Forever" (Reference To Raekwon's verse on "It's Yourz")
"Cash rules everything around me/C.R.E.A.M. get the money, dolla-dolla bill y’all" - "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2"
Number Of Degrassi References: 2
"5 a.m. then go and shoot Degrassi up on Morningside/For all the stuntin', I'll forever be immortalized" - "Worst Behavior"
"People like Mazin who was a best friend to me/Start to become a distant memory" - "Wu-Tang Forever"
Number Of Cities Shouted Out: 6
Houston
Memphis
Los Angeles
Toronto
Atlanta
Miami
Number Of Times He Says "Me": 83
Number Of Rappers/Celebrities Shouted Out: 35
Tom Ford
Martin Scorsese
Tatiana Ali
Ellen Degeneres
Cappadonna
Nicki Minaj
Guy Pearce
Wu-Tang Clan
Birdman
Paul Wall
Bun B
Noel Cadastre
Dan Marino
Michael Rapino
Michael Kors
Trey Songz
Katy Perry
Lil Wayne
Worldwide Wes
Dame Dash
The Notorious B.I.G.
Kanye West
Just Blaze
Cam'ron
Beanie Sigel
Lyor Cohen
Irv Gotti
Damon Wayans
Keith Sweat
Naya Rivera
Maury Povich
Serena Williams
Derrick Rose
Dwight Howard
Will Smith
Number Of Times Drake Mentions His Own Songs: 6
"Started From The Bottom"
"Bench players talkin' like starters, I hate it/Started from the bottom, now we here, nigga, we made it" - "Tuscan Leather"
"The Motto"
"I might come through without security to check if you're fine/That's just me on my solo like fuck it, like YOLO" - "Tuscan Leather"
"Trust Issues"
"Play this shit at my funeral if they catch me slippin'" - "Furthest Thing"
"9am In Dallas"
"Then I hit you with the 9am in Dallas who you like, baby, who you like?" - "Wu-Tang Forever"
"Bria's Interlude"
"Now it's therapeutic blowing money in the Galleria/Or Beverly Center Macy's where I discovered Bria" - "From Time"
"Underground Kings"
"My momma probably hear that and be mortified/This ain't the son you raised who used to take the Acura" - "Worst Behavior"
Number Of Strip Club References: 3
Treasures
"Thinking 'bout Texas, back when Porsche used to work at Treasures/Or further back then that, before I had the Houston leverage" - "From Time"
Diamonds Of Atlanta
"Last night I brought DOA to the studio/They already had a stage and a booty pole" - "Come Thru"
King Of Diamonds
"I think I done fucked too many women from the 305/Before the end of this year, I'll do King of Diamonds three more times" - "All Me"
Number Of Times He Says "Nothing Was The Same": 4