Maps of Music

Thank Me Later (2010)

Where the lyrics of Thank Me Later take you, and where it was really made.

The album was recorded across studios from Toronto to Honolulu, yet it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Key places

Sessions at The Hit Factory in Miami (2010)

Recording site Criteria Studios — Sessions for Thank Me Later took place at several recording studios, and The Hit Factory in Miami was one of them. The point uses the studio's listed coordinates, which mark the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Thank Me Later: debut studio album by Canadian rapper Drake
• Released June 15, 2010 by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records
• Produced mostly by longtime collaborators 40 and Boi-1da
• Features Alicia Keys, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, The-Dream, and Kanye West, among others
• Languorous ambient production with moody synthesizers, sparse beats, and obscured keyboards
• Themes: Drake's introduction to fame and his romances, delivered in confessional, club-oriented, and sexual songs

Background

• Preceded by the mixtape So Far Gone, released February 2009, which produced the hit single Best I Ever Had
• Mixtape success led to several guest appearances on other rappers' works, adding to the hype around Drake
• Drake said the debut would be a solid hip hop album, musically distinct from So Far Gone
• Cited Nas and André 3000 as influences for parts of the album
• Said he wanted to work with André 3000, Kid Cudi, and Sade on the album

Recording

• Work resumed in October 2009 after an onstage injury from a July 2009 concert
• Sessions took place at many studios across North America and beyond
• Executive producers included Lil Wayne, Cortez Bryant, and Bryan Birdman Williams
• Mary J. Blige contributed additional vocals to the track Fancy
• On April 26, 2010, Drake told a show crowd he had turned in the final copy of the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Aubrey Drake Graham, born October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Ontario, is a Canadian rapper, singer and actor.
• Gained recognition as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2008).
• Independently released mixtapes Room for Improvement (2006), Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment in 2009.
• Debut album Thank Me Later (2010) debuted atop the Billboard 200; followed by Take Care (2011), Nothing Was the Same (2013), Views (2016), Scorpion (2018), Certified Lover Boy (2021) and Iceman (2026).
• Views led the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks; "One Dance" became the first song to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify.
• Among the world's best-selling artists with over 170 million units sold; the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States.
• Accolades include 5 Grammy Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 41 Billboard Music Awards, 2 Brit Awards and 3 Juno Awards.
• Founded OVO Sound, DreamCrew and the fragrance house Better World; became global ambassador of the Toronto Raptors in 2013.
• Known for feuds with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar; the 2024 feud with Lamar is reported to have damaged his public image.

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score 75 from 26 professional reviews, generally positive
• AllMusic (Tim Sendra): praised the rich and nuanced production and the thoughtful, intense lyrics
• Pitchfork (Ryan Dombal): said Drake vies for superstardom while embracing a non-drug-dealing, non-violent history that connects with most rap fans
• The A.V. Club (Nathan Rabin): called it a cohesive, bittersweet, and assured debut
• Rolling Stone (Jody Rosen): found Drake in total command of a style that would have been hard to imagine dominating hip-hop a few years earlier
• Spin (Ben Detrick): said the album had dynamics like few other hip-hop albums before it
• PopMatters (Daniel Roberts): said none of the songs beat Best I Ever Had and found the album good in parts but never great
• NME (Pete Cashmore): felt the constant superstar interjections kept the album from standing out
• Slant Magazine (Jesse Cataldo): praised the album for capturing confused introspection, though the navel-gazing was a flimsy concept
• MSN Music (Robert Christgau): said the album consistently bemoans the confusing emoluments of fame

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone included it in its list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time in 2013 and again in 2022
• Ranked among the best albums of 2010 by several critics; Time ranked it fifth and Rolling Stone seventh

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 447,000 copies sold in the first week
• Topped the Canadian Albums Chart with 31,000 first-week copies and reached platinum in Canada in its debut week
• Sold 1.8 million copies in the United States by August 2015
• All four singles reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 40; Find Your Love peaked at number five
• Nominated for Best Rap Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• A planned free concert at South Street Seaport's Pier 17 on release day was cancelled after unruly crowd behavior and unsafe overcrowding.
• After that cancellation, Drake appeared at the Manhattan nightspot Amnesia for an album-release party sponsored by Hot 97.
• Universal Motown announced June 15, 2010 as the release date, but the album leaked in its entirety on June 1.
• Four singles came out: Over (March 8, 2010), Find Your Love (May 5), Miss Me (June 1), and Fancy (August 3).
• Shut It Down was first planned as the lead single for late 2009, but the release never materialized.
• Drake performed at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2010, to promote the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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