Drake has built up his vast catalog of hits, in part, by regularly dropping mixtapes and surprise collaborations in between his studio albums. If You're Reading This It's Too Late and Future collab What A Time To Be Alive both arrived in 2015 between albums Nothing Was The Same and VIEWS. However, his next project of this sort, More Life, looks set to be a little different — Drake said it was “more like a playlist” when he first announced the release on OVO Sound Radio in October 2016. He also said it would be out on a non-specified date that December. Nearly six months later it has yet to materialize.
When approached by The FADER for any information on More Life, a rep for Drake was unavailable for comment. So while we wait for the release, here’s every detail we have learned since the project was announced.
October 23, 2016
Drake announced More Life on a special episode of his OVO Sound Radio show celebrating his 30th birthday. The rapper explained that he's done mixtapes and albums, but now he wanted to provide a "soundtrack to your life." He promised that it will be filled with original material from him and the OVO family. He played three new songs which he said would feature on the project, "Two Birds One Stone," 21 Savage collaboration "Sneakin,'" and "Fake Love."
October 24, 2016
“Fake Love,” “Sneakin,” and “Two Birds, One Stone” all arrived on streaming platforms. “Two Birds, One Stone” included a songwriter credit for Kanye West.
November 1, 2016
In an interview with Genius, Noah "40" Shebib explained why Kanye West was credited on “Two Birds, One Stone”. “Me and Kanye produced the track,” he said. “I made it from some drums he [West] had given me. Not quite the elaborate story the world is looking for.”
November 4, 2016
Drake and Future collaboration “Used To This” landed online. At the time it is reported that the song would appear on Future’s Beast Mode 16. That project remains unreleased and the song did not appear on either of Future’s 2017 albums either.
December 10, 2016
OVO crew member Oliver El Khatib confirmed during Episode 35 of OVO Sound Radio that More Life had been pushed back from December until early 2017. Drake followed this up on Instagram when he posted a video of himself playing basketball alongside the caption: “More Buckets More Shows and More Life 2017.”
December 14, 2016
Bryson Tiller tweeted about a possible feature on More Life. "Started some vibes with Drake today," the Louisville native wrote, adding, "more life."
started some vibes with Drake today. more life
— tiller (@brysontiller) December 14, 2016
January 11, 2017
Producer and dvsn member Nineteen85 offered some new information on the project and the specifics of is makeup. “That's why he [Drake]'s trying to call it a playlist because he has a bunch of people in a space, hanging out," he said. "He's so aware of what everybody else is doing musically that he likes to introduce new music and new artists to the rest of the world.”
January 19, 2017
Jennifer Lopez told Ellen DeGeneres about a Drake collab that's in the works. "He just asked me to do a song with him and that's what we've been doing," she said. "We'll see if it's on his next album." Footage of Drake and J-Lo dancing to the song at the Winter Wonderland Prom in Hollywood soon turned up on Instagram.
January 26, 2017
Drake gave a rare interview to Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari's "Coach Cal" podcast. As well as talking about about his beginnings on Degrassi and his plans to get back into the acting game, Drake also gave a short update on More Life. He said the release was designed "to keep people excited, give them new music, let them know I’m still hungry." He continued, "I’m doing it to be remembered as a forward thinker."
January 28, 2017
Drake’s Boy Meets World tour kicked off in Amsterdam. During the show he suggested that More Life would be out by the time he came back to the city in late February. A clip of a new song, reportedly featuring U.K. rapper Giggs, was also played during a break in the show.
February 6, 2017
Oliver El-Khatib debuted a Drake and Wizkid collab titled “Hush Up The Silence” during Episode 37 of OVO Sound Radio. He also offered an update on More Life, assuring fans that "everything’s moving along nicely."
February 10, 2017
During a Boy Meets World Tour stop in Leeds, England, Drake said he was "about a week and a half, two weeks away" from finishing More Life.
NEW DRAKE X GIGGS 🔜 pic.twitter.com/VOKyQ8KWP3
— Cait (@caitlinscales12) January 29, 2017
February 19, 2017
Drake gave an in-depth interview to DJ Semtex during Episode 38 of OVO Sound Radio. Speaking about his new project, Drake told the British DJ: "The style in which it is being put together is based on the concept of OVO Sound Radio. 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.”
February 21, 2017
Rising Atlanta rapper SahBabii said he flew out to England to meet Drake and record a remix of his viral hit “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick.”
March 3, 2017
While in Sweden on tour, Drake posted an Instagram message in Swedish that when translated read: “If you’re reading/translating this, it’s too late,” with the words “More Life, March 4, 2017,” underneath. The post was deleted, but not before fans screengrabbed it.
Drake, who is currently in Sweden, posted this message in Swedish.
— Dylan Farella (@dfarella) March 4, 2017
English translation: "If you're reading/translating this, it's too late" pic.twitter.com/NKl9NG7sEy
Noah “40” Shebib shut down these rumours the following day, when he confirmed via Instagram that Drake is still finishing the project.
March 11, 2017
