Four Reasons Why ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’ Is the Original ‘Views From the 6’

On June 1, 2014 Drake released “0 to 100/The Catch Up” on SoundCloud. A song this good, this…perfect, belonged on an album. Instead, he casually leaked it on his OVO blog. We’d rarely heard from him since the release of Nothing Was the Same nine months prior. At the time, Drake had the juice. Any chance to hear the self-titled “boy” on wax, whether it be a featured verse or simply, a SoundCloud loosie, was appointment viewing. He had such a stranglehold on the rap game that you felt for his peers. What were they to do? Sure, it helped that Kendrick, easily his biggest threat, decided to take almost two years off following his critically acclaimed debut. Still, it was impossible to discredit Drizzy. He was riding his own wave.

While “0 to 100” was a certified banger, the back-half “The Catch Up” was Drake’s latest meditation over 40’s atmospheric production. As he reflected over his newfound position as hip-hop’s King, he teased his follow-up to NWTS

“We already got spring 2015 poppin’/PND droppin’, Reps-up P droppin’/Majid Jordan droppin/OB droppin’/not to mention me droppin”

Did he just announce the release date for his fourth album? Spring 2015? Book it…