Drake's "More Life" Shaped The Subsequent Years Of His Career

On March 18th of this year, More Life by Drake clocked seven years since its release. This project wasn't quite the typical album however; Drake himself preferred that it be called a "playlist," and even marketed it with the subtitle, “A Playlist By October Firm” on its cover, below the picture of his father Dennis Graham. Other publications would choose to refer to it as a mixtape, while some would still stick to “album.” No matter the term, More Life is a project representative of Drake’s love for his artistic license. However, there’s more to it than that, and this defining release was unique in many more ways. 

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On October 23 2016, Drake himself announced More Life on a very special edition of OVO Sound Radio (Episode 32). Right before the episode officially kicked off, he made the announcement. He also teased songs from the album right then, probably as an early gift ahead of his 30th birthday. Three singles were released as teasers. These were, "Fake Love,” "Sneakin" (featuring 21 Savage), and "Two Birds, One Stone.” He also teased his collaboration with UK rap artist Dave on "Wanna Know (Remix).”

Drake dropped another teaser for More Life, at the Paper Soho Club in London on February 17, of the following year. Nonetheless, it was six long months of waiting before he officially announced on March 11 that the release date would be March 18. Much like its announcement, the album was first aired on the 39th episode of OVO Sound Radio.

Importantly, the playlist was not Drake’s first time using the term “More Life.” Earlier that year, he had written a letter in response to the shooting of Alton Sterling by law enforcement officers. "It’s impossible to ignore that the relationship between Black and Brown communities and law enforcement remains as strained as it was decades ago. No one begins their life as a hashtag. Yet the trend of being reduced to one continues," Drake wrote. He then signed it off with “More Life,” a popular Jamaican phrase, popularized by dancehall artist Vybz Kartel. Drake has often referred to Vybz as one of his "biggest inspirations," particularly for the dancehall elements in his own music. The mixtape was 90 minutes long, with a tracklist of 22 songs, although it did not include the previously released singles.

The mixtape arrived on the heels of Views in 2016. Views famously awarded Drake with his first No. 1 single, “One Dance.” Today, he’s the artist with the most singles to debut atop the same chart. The album had been hyped since 2014, as the peak result of Drake’s creativity and artistry, even long before the dust settled on his other wins. He had his mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, his Future collab What a Time to Be Alive, and the viral hit, “Hotline Bling.” 

In contrast, More Life arrived with a quieter, understated approach. The release date was announced merely a week before its drop, and it abandoned the customary Friday morning release by debuting on a Saturday night. Also, no physical copies of the album were sold. It goes unsaid that More Life was Drake’s way of enjoying his artistic experiments while freeing himself from the burdensome commercialization of the industry. He didn’t stress himself with the tasks of having a theme, general sound, or other rudimentary definitions of what makes a good album. With More Life, he played around with his many musical passions, across genres, sounds, and cultures.

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“Passionfruit,” a relaxed, romantic dance number, was a staple on More Life. While it was a surprising offering from Drake, it undoubtedly yielded exceptional results commercially. “Passionfruit” spent seven weeks in the UK’s top 10, peaking at number 3. On the Hot 100, it hit the eighth spot. Moreover, it went double platinum and ended up being covered by John Mayer, Paramore, and Mabel. The tropical house-inspired banger soon became a fan-favorite. Years later, and fans would realize the pipeline from the track to Honestly, Nevermind, Drake’s seventh album. On “Get It Together,” also from More Life, Drake featured Jorja Smith and South African producer Black Coffee. The underrated song had a similar, unhurried housey style. After More Life, Black Coffee, real name Nkosinathi Maphumulo, subsequently worked on multiple songs on Honestly, Nevermind, proving Drake’s intentionality with the dance genre. 

The dance album famously caught fans off guard with its sudden June 2022 release. At the time, Certified Lover Boy, his sixth official LP, was still just nine months old. Moreover, the Dark Lane Demo Tapes were barely a year old. Nonetheless, it was unique in the way that throughout his career, Drake had hinted at his affinity for dance music. Specifically, Drake had laid out a clear trajectory, from "Take Care," to "One Dance," and  of course, More Life’s "Passionfruit." 

Drake's More Life, also heavily embraced the sounds of the U.K. music scene. His interest in UK culture was likely facilitated by his close bond with Skepta, who even joined Drake during parts of his 2017 Boy Meets World tour across Europe. However, before Skepta, Drake had also collaborated with London producer Jamie xx on his second album, Take Care. He also collaborated with soulful, crooning south Londoner, Sampha in 2013.

Around the same period, Drake began delving deeper into British food and media. As a result, the U.K.’s influence began to appear in his music. He fanboyed for grime pioneer Wiley and quoted Tottenham MC Skepta on a track with Lil Wayne. He also transformed his Instagram into a hub for grime rap battles, at least for a while. Furthermore, More Life featured UK rapper Giggs, on not one, but two tracks that played off both their strengths -- “KMT” and "No Long Talk.”

Despite “KMT”'s popularity as a moshpit anthem in the UK, it faced criticism from American Hip Hop influencers like DJ Akademiks. AK described the track as an imposition of foreign musical culture on American Hip Hop. Some also noted Drake's flow on “KMT” was a little too close to XXXTentacion's on "Look At Me." Regardless, the playlist featured a host of British artists including Nana Rogues.  

As we would later find out, Drake’s relationship with Grime music and the UK Rap scene did not end with More Life. For example in 2020, Drake worked with Headie One for the "Only You (Freestyle).” He also made a second attempt at recreating U.K. drill with "War” that same year. Thanks to his influence, other American rappers have begun to collaborate with drill and grime. For example, Future collaborated with Drill rapper DigDat in 2019. Also, A$AP Rocky collaborated with Skepta on “Praise The Lord.”

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