Drake Announces His New Album, Releases Mix Tape

Drake dropped some exciting news at midnight on May 1 for his fans, announcing his new album and releasing a mixtape.

He began sharing the news by releasing his new mixtape titled Dark Lane Demo Tapes. It consists of 14 songs and features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Giveon, Young Thug, and Playboi Carti, reports CNN. The tape also has previously leaked tracks and releases from SoundCloud.

The biggest news came after the mixtape release, however, when Drake told fans that his first album in over two years would be dropped this summer. This will be the rapper’s seventh studio album, the first since 2018’s Scorpion.

Southside, Pi’erre Bourne, Noah “40” Shebib, and Plain Pat are the record’s producers, cited Pitchfork. Previously released tracks include “Tootsie Slide,” “Desires,” “When to Say When,” “Chicago Freestyle,” and “War.”

Instagram users praised the new mixtape, commenting on the rapper’s latest post promoting the release.

“Quarantine thrivin,” wrote one user, ending their comment with flame emoji.

“Too fire bro,” added another, who also posted multiple flame emoji.

One of the new songs on the mixtape, entitled “Demons,” references Kylie Jenner’s billionaire status.

“My TD Bank is on what? (What?) / My TD Bank is on Kylie (Ayy, ayy),” Drake rapped in the first verse.

While it seems as though the rapper is saying his bank account’s status is comparable to Kylie’s, it could also potentially mean something more. The two were the center of relationship rumors before the coronavirus pandemic started. The pair were reportedly “into each other” at Drake’s birthday party back in December, according to Harper’s Bazaar.

Drake has been making his mark in the music industry these past few months in other ways as well.

The rapper created a viral TikTok dance to his new single “Toosie Slide” as a way to promote the song. He also created a music video for the single that dropped April 3. He filmed the music video remotely from his mansion in Toronto, due to the restrictions on travel put into place to help fight the coronavirus.

In April, Billboard announced that he became the first male artist to have debuted three songs at number one on its Hot 100 chart, an accomplishment he achieved with “Toosie Slide.” He joins Mariah Carey as the only other musician to have completed such a feat. Mariah debuted three songs at number one from 1995-1997.

Fans seem to be anxiously awaiting his new studio album, giving his announcement over 889,000 likes.