Tomorrow (September 24) is the 10-year anniversary of Drake‘s beloved third studio album Nothing Was The Same. Including smash hits like the intro “Tuscan Leather” and singles like “Started From The Bottom” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” NWTS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 658,000 copies sold. However, it seems like the accompanying deluxe version became a point of contention for Drake.
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When he put out the “deluxe edition” of NWTS, Drake simply added both “Come Thru” and “All Me” with Big Sean and 2 Chainz, extending the track list from 13 songs to 15. But, this came after he supposedly planned to, then decided against, a much more unorthodox deluxe delivery.
This week, a video posted by TikTok user Overtimesound resurfaced Drake’s 2014 cover story with Vibe, where he discusses his initial rollout plans for NWTS. When specifically talking about the deluxe, he explained that he wanted to have the deluxe version flip the track list around and play the album backward, revealing new insights about the LP.
“The deluxe edition was going to flip the whole track list, so it would go ‘Pound Cake’ then ‘Too Much’ — it would go in reverse,” he said. “It was a cool listening experience. We never brought it into fruition; I think it was some iTunes [issue] or something like that.”
Later in the story, the co-founders of Drake’s OVO imprint, Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib, touched on how delicate sequencing albums is, and how tough Drake’s concept would have been to execute.
“There’s a lot of [musical] manipulation, these winding roads,” Shebib said. “I would’ve loved to embellish on that more, for every transition to be craziness. But it’s difficult when you’re also balancing the order and flow of the tracks.”
“That illustrates how much thought goes into telling these stories — the sequencing, the mood, the peaks and valleys,” El-Khatib added. “Even Kanye has brought up the importance of the sequencing of [Yeezus]. It’s not just slapped together.”
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A few years after the release of NWTS, Kendrick Lamar actually executed a similar plan with his 2017 album DAMN. When releasing the project’s “Collectors Edition,” Lamar reversed the entire track list. This version is available on digital streaming platforms and as a vinyl copy.
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