Taking the music industry by surprise, Drake has just dropped a surprise album on iTunes this February. Called "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," the mixtape contains 17 tracks which also features, Lil Wayne, Travi$ Scott and PARTYNEXTDOOR, Stereo Gum reported. The report says that the tracks can be streamed from his website October's Very Own for a short while, but now, the only way to get it online is via iTunes.
It had been six years since he signed with Young Money Records. Drake has produced the "So Far Gone" mixtape back in 2009 featuring the viral "Best I Ever Had," according to Vibe. At that time, he said he appreciated the help from the record company and that being independent was a different environment.
"Independent is a funny term," Drizzy told MTV News in 2009. "I can go independent, but you need distribution, period. You need somebody to distribute your record and you need that army that a label has to really push the record."
Now, his new album "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" has been collaborative efforts from Drake and Young Money.
According to Billboard, the new album was preceded by his 4th full length album, "Views From the 6." However, the new album has more edge.
Before releasing this LP, he also released a short-film called "Jungle," according to 2DopeBoyz. The short feature was a "dark 15-minute visual - captured around the city of Toronto - features narration from October's Very Own along with throwback footage of him in his younger days."
Drizzy has hit success in his surprise album after selling 495,000 copies only in the first week. This weekend, the numbers have already reached 535,000, according to Forbes.
For the record, this is his third-biggest album in his career. The second album was "Take Care" which sold for about 631,000 units during the first week, while the first, "Nothing Was the Same" sold for about 658,000.
In Spotify, it has already reached 17.3 million plays in the U.S. alone, only three days after its release.
What's even more impressive is the fact that this album was "released with no publicity or physical copies available for purchase." After the release last Feb. 12, it has already beaten the record for "largest sales week for an R&B/hip-hop album since Beyonce's self-titled record, which had already moved 617,000 after three days on sale in December 2013."
However, Shawn Setaro from Forbes wrote that this album could is somehow a "mystery" since it seems like Drizzy just wanted to get out of Young Money by completing a "contractual obligation."
Drizzy has been open about creating an album which he said would be called "View From the 6." But the rapper has not confirmed if his latest release was the replacement or was an entirely different project.
To download his latest album, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," click here.