It’s the moment all Drake fans have been waiting for: Drake has announced the release date for his upcoming project, “More Life: The Playlist,” Saturday, March 18.
Since Drake announced on OVO Radio in October 2016 that he was working on a new “playlist” to be released in December, it’s been all-out torture for fans with one false release date or teaser after another.
But on March 12, the rapper/singer put a video on Instagram of a montage of film that, according to Fader, seemed to be from his latest world tour.
The video was an aesthetically pleasing trailer showing Drake in slow motion walking through the flash of paparazzi cameras, moments with him and his crew backstage or partying in venues and videos of the colossal crowds he drew in.
The crowd lit up the stage with their phones, all while a tinkling, suspenseful beat played in the background.
At the end, text read, “MORE LIFE MARCH 18.”
Though it hasn’t been officially stated, it seems as though Drake has finally set a date for his latest work, which he’s referring to as a “playlist” rather than a mixtape or an album.
The long and winding road awaiting this album release date began in mid-December when fans were patiently awaiting the promised project.
Also back in October, Drake released three tracks from the project. This includes, “Two Birds One Stone,” “Sneakin’” and “Fake Love.”
In typical Drake fashion, he took to Instagram, implying an album push back, writing, “More Buckets More Shows and More Life 2017” in a caption on a video of him and friends playing basketball.
Since then, as Drake rarely does interviews, there have been snippets and rumors here and there about when to expect the album and who to expect featured.
Two artists who seem most likely to have a feature on the album are Bryson Tiller, who tweeted, “started some vibes with Drake today. more life” on Dec. 13, and Jennifer Lopez, who was not only rumored to be dating the rapper earlier this year but also told Entertainment Tonight in mid-January that Drake had asked her to do a song with him.
It’s not just Drake’s ability to round up great talent that makes his albums so popular.
Part of Drake’s success has been his ability to consistently drop quality albums and productions, repeatedly pushing out multiple works in a year with both announced and surprise release dates that leave the fans happy, yet always wanting more.
In fact, it’s rare that you see Drake left out of Billboard’s Top 20, as he sits at #16 right now for “Fake Love,” which was one of the first songs teased from his upcoming project.
He’s known as a trailblazer in the rap community, regularly offering up new sounds, talent and platforms with his projects.
As Fader reports in an in-depth look at the new project, “This Is Everything We Know For Sure About Drake’s More Life,” the most known about the upcoming playlist was shared by Drake himself in an interview to DJ Semtex during an episode of OVO Sound Radio.
“The style in which it is being put together is based on the concept of OVO Sound Radio,” Drake said to the DJ. “It’s almost like a radio show. I basically asked myself, what if I did it like OVO Sound Radio but every song was a new Drake song? It’s more like an evolution of a mixtape. After ‘VIEWS,’ I was inspired, and I wanted to keep the music going and get people inspired.”
