Thank Me Later

Thank Me Later is the debut studio album to be released by Canadian rapper Drake. The album is slated to be released on June 15, 2010 on Young Money under a joint venture with Cash Money and distribution by Universal Motown.

In an interview with Complex.com, Drake stated that this album will be "a solid hip hop album" different from his mixtape So Far Gone, whose musical style has been compared to that of Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak.[1] Drake has also stated a desire to work with André 3000, Danny!, Kid Cudi, and Sade on the album.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Rap-Up reported that Drake told Entertainment Weekly that he collaborated with an Indie pop band named Francis and the Lights.[8] Kevin Rudolf has worked on the album. [9]

On May 28, 2009, independent label Canadian Money Entertainment sold an unauthorized Drake album, The Girls Love Drake, on iTunes, Rhapsody.com, Shockhound, and Amazon.com. Drake's management sent a cease and desist order to iTunes, which promptly removed the album from sale on June 5. Drake then planned to sue Canadian Money.[10]

Drake resumed work on the album in October 2009 following an onstage injury from a July 2009 concert.[11] Hip hop producer Omen told Billboard magazine that a video for "Shut It Down" would be directed by Hype Williams.[12] However, Drake stated in an interview that "Shut It Down" would be a single but not the first one.[13] The first single was confirmed by producer Boi-1da being titled "Over".[14] The single was released on Drake's blog on March 4, 2010.[15] Besides his Toronto-based producer team, Drake also collaborated with aspiring European producer Crada, who already worked on Kid Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. [16] In March 2010, Drake confirmed that he recorded a track with Eminem and Dr. Dre.[17] Drake announced the second single off the album to be titled "Find Your Love"[18], which was released on April 29, 2010.[19] The third single was revealed to be "Miss Me" featuring Lil Wayne, the song will be released to iTunes on June 1, 2010.[20]

In early November 2009, Lil Wayne officially released a statement explaining that Thank Me Later had been completed.[21] Although this statement was made, at the Grammy's, Drake said that he is still working on the album. MTV News reported in December that Drake planned for the album to be released by March 2010.[22] Later, Rap-Up revealed that the album would be released sometime in spring.[14] It was later confirmed that a May 25, 2010 release has been scheduled.[23] However, Universal Motown stated the album has been pushed back three weeks to June 15, 2010.[24]

Drake has stated that Nas and André 3000 have been an inspiration to him and have influenced some of the work on Thank Me Later. "Nas was somebody that I used to listen to his raps and never understood how he did it. I always wanted to understand how he painted those pictures and his bar structure. I went back and really studied Nas and André 3000 and then came back with this album," Drake said at the Sprite Step Off show in Atlanta. When asked how the album would sound in comparison to his last mixtape, So Far Gone, "It's gonna be bigger, it's gonna sound happier," he said. "More victorious, 'cause that's where I'm at in my life."[25] Drake told Entertainment Weekly that, "I didn't make this album for commercial purposes. A lot of the verses are extremely long. I just made it to share with people. I hope they can enjoy."[8]

On April 26, 2010, Drake announced to a crowd during a show that he had finished recording and had turned in a final copy of the album.[26]