Thank Me Later has a languorous, ambient production that incorporates moody synthesizers, sparse beats, obscured keyboards, minor keys, and subtle arrangements. It features contributions from Alicia Keys, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, The-Dream, and Kanye West, among others. 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 was released on June 15, 2010, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records.

And judging by the anticipation around its release, it will be, many times over.Thank Me Later is the debut studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. It’s easy to read it as a sign of the times: Is this boom in bummer rap a reaction to the recession, or the sound of hip-hop shuffling into middle age? But more than anything, the sultry production gives Later a coherent vibe - it’s an album meant to be listened to from start to finish. Thank Me Later‘s downtempo beats, many by Canadian producer 40, call to mind Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak and Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon. He isn’t the most naturally charismatic MC, but he is one of the wittiest, packing his songs with clever images (“I’m 23/With a money tree”) and punch lines that land with a snap (“I live for the nights that I can’t remember/With the people I won’t forget”), even next to guests like Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, T.I. “This is really one of my dumbest flows ever/I haven’t slept in days,” he says in “Unforgettable.”ĭrake is in total command of a style that would have been hard to imagine dominating hip-hop a few years ago: He’s subtle and rueful rather than loud and lively emotionally transparent rather than thuggy. The tempos are slow, the beats are awash in gauzy atmospherics, and Drake raps (and, surprisingly often, sings) in the voice of a guy who’s half-awake. It’s a shock to hear how softly - sluggishly, even - Drake announces himself on his official debut.

Thank me later album cover explicit