Nothing Was the Same (Deluxe)

Editors' Notes "Started from the bottom now we're here," Drake proclaims. But where's here, exactly? "Here" is the top, and it's lonely at the top, at least the way it's told on Nothing: "People I believe in they don't even show their face now," raps the morose hero on "Furthest Thing." The production follows suit; it's bleak and pensive, with sonic details like snares and kicks seemingly groping for one another in the darkness. Featuring a relative dearth of guests (Jay-Z shows up toward the end), this is Drake's one-man show, a wistful meditation on the ironic sense of isolation fame engenders.