The similarities between rappers Young Thug and Lil Wayne are uncanny. Not only have I found myself asking “Wait, is this Weezy or Thugger?” during a song (see Travis Scott’s ‘Mamacita’), but the two both had their careers launched by their strong relationships with Cash Money Records and it’s co-founder Birdman. Also, both rappers are a little “odd” (for lack of better words), and while Lil Wayne cemented his legacy with Tha Carter albums, Birdman’s plan was for Young Thug to take the torch from Wayne (without Lil Wayne’s consent) and record the next series of Carter albums. Somewhere along the line though, perhaps because of the estranged (and currently litigated) relationship between Lil Wayne and Cash Money/Birdman, the plan changed and instead of releasing an official Carter album, Birdman’s new protégé has released the similarly titled Barter 6 project (which is actually a mixtape and not Young Thug’s debut LP).
A week ago, the phrase “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” meant nothing to you and now it’s a Drake album that you weren’t even expecting. After releasing a surprise album on iTunes for fans, Billboard is reporting that Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late album is expected to sell more than half a million copies by the end of its first week. If 500,000 wasn’t enough, it is also expected that IYRTITL has a “serious chance” of exceeding even that half a million estimate.
Drake almost broke the internet Thursday when he “pulled a Beyonce” and dropped a surprise album, titled If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. The first question though, is this even an album? Is it a mixtape? Well, it really isn’t that black and white. When you think of a mixtape, you think of a lower quality project which is less cohesive and most importantly released for free. When you think of an album you think of completely original beats, more strategic album packaging and covers, and usually for sale on iTunes, as well as stores. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late falls somewhere in the middle. While the beats are original (as opposed to Lil Wayne’s Sorry 4 The Wait projects), the album sounds more like a mixtape than an album. Also too, fans were led to believe that Drake’s “upcoming album” was Views From The 6 (which still is expected to release this year). The album art also appears to be more of a mixtape cover than an album cover. However, even though the project was also released for free streaming on Soundcloud,IYRTITLwas released for sale on iTunes. So which is it? Again, it’s still not clear.
Is Lil Wayne following the path of Drake and releasing a surprise album on iTunes just one day later, this time for free? A week ago Wayne tweeted, “Free album. Free Weezy season. The Free Weezy Album. #FWA”, suggesting that fans would soon receive a free album (separate from his Sorry 4 The Wait 2 mixtape). And now today, using the same #FWA (Free Weezy Album) hashtag, Wayne tweeted that he “hit sent”. Did he hit send on submitting a free album for fans on iTunes or perhaps somewhere else? Yesterday we speculated that Drake may have released his If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late album to finish his contract with Cash Money before the release of his highly anticipated View From The 6 album. Lil Wayne can’t quite do the same since he re-signed with Cash Money for four solo albums (we doubt he hit send on a few albums today), but he just may have something up his sleeve to get at Cash Money, along with his $51 million dollar lawsuit.
[Update: According to YMCMB preisdent Mack Maine, the album is NOT dropping tonight, despite reports]
Drake’s new surprise album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Lateis full of disses to his fellow labelmates. In his track ‘No Tellin”, Drake throws shade at his new OVO Sound artist iLoveMakonnen and in the album’s closing track ‘6PM in New York’ Drake takes shots at fellow Young Money/Cash Money (YMCMB) rapper Tyga. In the track, Drake raps “I heard the lil lil homie talking reckless in Vibe. It’s quite a platform you chose, you should have kept it inside. Oh you tried, it’s so childish calling my name on the world’s stage. You need to act your age and not your girl’s age.” Referencing Tyga’s interview with Vibe where he revealed that he didn’t like Drake, Drake takes a jab at Tyga and his relationship with his 17 year-old girlfriend Kylie Jenner. No mercy from Drizzy on these records!
If you somehow didn’t hear, Drake just pulled a Beyonce and released a surprise album on iTunes. While Beyonce’s release was certainly game changing, Drake’s just might have a much more interesting back story. With this surprise release of Drake’s fourth studio album, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, is Drizzy now out of his contract with Cash Money Records?
On Twitter, Lil Wayne released a series of tweets discussing why his new album, Tha Carter V , has been long delayed. He stated that Cash Money (Wayne’s label) and it’s boss, Birdman refuse to release the album.
To all my fans, I want u to know that my album won't and hasn't been released bekuz Baby & Cash Money Rec. refuse to release it.
It’s been known that there have been problems in the YMCMB camp with Tyga’s recent comments, but not to this extent with one of the label’s biggest artists calling them out. Additionally, Pusha T, who beefed with Wayne briefly in 2012, replied to Wayne’s comments on Twitter.
So, do you think Wayne’s comments are legit or do you think he’s just trying to promote his album? Keep checking the website and find out.
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