Drake Calls Kendrick Lamar's "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" The Last Great Concept Album

 

The "Nothing Was The Same" rapper also says "I draw off life experiences" in reference to his music.

Vibe Magazine recently released outtakes of a 2013 interview with Drake in which he speaks on his approach to making music and the viability of concept albums in Hip Hop.

“I feel like the music that I write is utilized in life,” he said. “It would be tough for me to go in conceptual storytelling. The last great concept album was [Kendrick Lamar’s] good kid, m.A.A.d city—still obviously true to his life but very conceptual. Very specific stories that need to be told. I always say hats off to that album. That album’s incredible, what an undertaking. For me, I would never want to be restricted to that.”

Drake, who released his third album, Nothing Was The Same, in September, added that he looks at that effort in a similar light. “I feel like I just made a concept album about a kid from Toronto that’s on,” he said. “I’m not good at telling fictional stories, so I would never be able to do that. There are rappers that are good at telling stories about people that aren't themselves. There are people that have vast imaginations to go and make up a story just to achieve a point. I draw off life experiences.”

Vibe’s interview also finds the emcee vaguely referencing the possibility of a new album and commenting on his lack of social media activity. “I think the next album I do is gonna be different,” he said, “I don’t know if I’ll necessarily return to family stuff and stuff that I feel I really summed up well on Nothing Was The Same. The problem is I don’t participate too much in social media, so my music is always the update that you’re looking for in my life. Twitter is not my outlet to get my message out there. My outlet is the music so my music always ends up becoming my life. I don’t know how to stop that.”

Given his comments that his music are drawn from lived experiences, Drake also talked briefly about his state-of-mind with respect to each album he’s released. “20-whatever years to make So Far Gone, then one year to make Thank Me Later,” he said. “I was like, 'I don’t know, let me get a bunch of features and make some good music.'

 

“I went back home and wrote Take Care, got influenced by the city but I was in a dark place,” he added in reference to his second album. “I don’t know if I was coming back home with the best energy in the world. I was coming off a record where I loved that album with all my heart but I knew I wanted to do better. I was just getting more money than I had ever seen. I was like in this indulgent state of mind. It was a weird time for me.”

Ending with a note on his latest album, Drake referred to Nothing Was The Same as his “first time [having] no strife.” “This album is probably the most aware of self that I’ve ever been," he said. "I did this album all over the place but for the first time have no strife. I’m here. I’m gonna own this now.”

Drake recently released a song pulled from the Nothing Was The Same sessions called "Trophies." The Hit-Boy produced track was used in a preview for the album though only released in full shortly before the New Year.