Views takes influence from West Indian andWest African music. The album marks Drake's first full foray into Jamaicandancehall music, while also featuring other genres such asR&B,trap,Afrobeats,UK funky, andpop. Similar to his previous records, the album sees Drake discussing romance, experiences with betrayal, and celebrations of loyalty and friendship. The album was supported by five singles: "One Dance", which topped the USBillboard Hot 100, "Hotline Bling", "Pop Style", "Controlla", and "Too Good".
The album debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200, with 1.04 millionalbum-equivalent units in its first week of release, including 852,000 copies, and achieving a then-record over 245 million streams. It spent a 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one on theBillboard 200 and became Drake's first number-one album on theUK Albums Chart. All 20 songs from the album charted on theBillboard Hot 100.
The album's title was first announced asViews from the 6, as it first appeared from a report in a July 2014 article fromBillboard.[6] According to Drake on Twitter, "the 6" is a reference to his hometown ofToronto, Ontario. On April 29, 2016, it was revealed that the title had been shortened toViews.[7]
The cover artwork forViews was released via Drake's Twitter account on April 24, 2016, which features Drake sitting atop theCN Tower in Toronto. The fact that Drake was significantly larger than life-size on the cover was widely discussed,[8][9] and CN Tower's Twitter account later confirmed it to bephotoshopped.[10][11][12] The album cover and booklet were shot by Toronto-based photographerCaitlin Cronenberg.[8]
Songs onViews see Drake discussing his relationship woes, experiences with betrayal, and celebrations of loyalty and friendship.[13] Writing forVice, Emma Garland said that what the album "lacks in lyrical sentiment, it makes up for in musical experimentation and production." Garland further define the album as a "minimal nuance ofIf You're Reading This It's Too Late [that] has bloomed into the more fleshed-out format ofTake Care."[14] Elliott Sharp ofRed Bull Music described the album's vibe as "chill, slow, smooth, soft, silk, and sleepy".[15] In an interview withApple Music'sZane Lowe, Drake said that the theme of the album is the "haphazard, ever-changing weather in Toronto."[14]
Drake premiered a single, titled "Summer Sixteen" throughOVO Sound Radio on January 30, 2016. The track wasproduced by40,Boi-1da andCubeatz. The song contains a slowed-down sample of "Glass Tubes" performed byBrian Bennett.[21] Thecover art was designed by Filip Pągowski, who was a creator of theComme des Garçons logo.[22] The song peaked at number six on the USBillboard Hot 100, selling 215,000 copies in its first week, making it the highest debut sales of Drake's career.[23] As of March 27, 2016, the single sold 358,000 copies in the United States.[24]
On April 4, 2016, the album was initially teased in London.[25][26] On April 9, Drake released a trailer forViews on Twitter.[7] On April 26, Drake revealed thatViews would include 20 songs, more than any of his previous albums, excluding the bonus tracks.[27] After his last "pop-up" store stop in his home city of Toronto, Drake released the album's cover artwork on social media. On April 29, the album premiered onApple Music'sOVO Sound Radio, following his interview withBeats 1's radio hostZane Lowe, and then released on both Apple Music andiTunes exclusively,[28] followed by a release on to other digital retailers and a physical release a week later, and a release on to other streaming services a week after that. On May 14, Drake was the host and musical guest on an episode ofSaturday Night Live, where he sang "One Dance" and "Hype".[29] On September 26, Drake released a short film on Apple Music, titled "Please Forgive Me", which features several songs fromViews.[30]
NigerianAfrobeats artistWizkid was involved in the writing and production of "One Dance"
"Hotline Bling" was released as the album'slead single on July 31, 2015, the song was produced byNineteen85.[31][32] Despite the song being released as the official lead single forViews, "Hotline Bling" was included as the bonus track on the physical album.[33][a]
"One Dance" was released as the album's second single on April 5, 2016.[37] The song featuresguest appearances from Nigerian singerWizkid and British singerKyla.[37] Wizkid also co-wrote and co-produced the song.[32] Nineteen85 also produced the song, with co-production byDJ Maphorisa and Drake's longtime collaborator40.[38] It spent 15 consecutive weeks atop theUK Singles Chart.[39]
"Pop Style" was released as the album's third single on April 5, 2016.[40] The song features guest appearances from Americanhip hop duo The Throne (composed of rappersKanye West andJay-Z),[40] while the production was handled bySevn Thomas andFrank Dukes, with additional production by Drake's longtime collaboratorBoi-1da, alongside 40.[32] Upon the release, Drake removed The Throne's verses, and then re-recorded his own verses as a part of their replacement verses to the song.[41]
"Controlla" was released as the album's fourth single in the United States on June 7, 2016.[42] The song was produced by Boi-1da, with co-production bySupa Dups andAllen Ritter, with additional production byDi Genius.[32] The leaked version features a guest appearance from Jamaican dancehall artistPopcaan.[43]
"Too Good" was released as the album's fifth single on July 26, 2016.[44] The song features a guest appearance from Barbadian singerRihanna, while the production was handled by Nineteen85, with additional production by Supa Dups.[32]
In August 2014, a one-minute-long snippet, titled "Views from the Six" wasleaked online.[45] On September 24, 2016, an extended version of "Faithful" with two additional verses fromDvsn was premiered onOVO Sound Radio.[46] On May 21, 2016, the remix version for "Hype" featuringLil Wayne, premiered onOVO Sound Radio.[47] On February 17, 2017,Future premiered an extended cut of the song "Grammys" with additional verse from himself on his radio show,Freebandz Radio.[48]
Views was met with lukewarm reviews from critics.[61] AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 69, based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[50] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[49]
Many reviewers found it overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically;[62] according toMTV's Meghan Garvey, the unenthusiastic response to the record may have been attributed to Drake's "unwillingness (or inability) to significantly evolve beyond his time-tested signature sound, clinging to the comfort of the same frosty 40 beats, zingy aphorisms, and perennial trust issues".[61] ReviewingViews inThe New York Times, Jon Caramanica said Drake's "emotional excavations aren't as striking as they were a few years ago, when they had the sting of the new to them."[63] InThe A.V. Club, Evan Rytlewski argued that he had "done this before and done it better", describing the album as "too long and stubbornly low energy".[52]Neil McCormick wrote inThe Daily Telegraph that in spite of some evocative production and Drake's impressive rapping skills, his continued "navel gazing" demonstrated a lack of emotional maturity and insight.[53] Andy Gill ofThe Independent was more critical, panning the album as "utterly wearying and unpersuasive" while declaring that "rarely has one man moaned quite so much about so little."[64]
Alexis Petridis wrote a largely positive review inThe Guardian, arguing thatViews "offers a lengthy inventory of miseries, cleverly offset by a sly sense of humour and eclectic sound". He deemed it "compelling evidence that this is the defining pop artist of the moment".[55] InThe Observer,Kitty Empire found the lyrical and production detail "pin-sharp",[57] andMojo's Andy Cowan wrote that the overly introspective themes were redeemed by Drake's nimbleflow and clever sense of humor.[65]NME journalist Nick Levine said his "signature brand of downbeat introspection remains gripping".[56]Los Angeles Times critic Mikael Wood wrote that the record "sets his harshest thoughts about women against the prettiest, most sensual music he's ever made", featuring a number of "deeply beautiful tracks" that "further dismantles whatever barrier was left between rap and R&B following Drake's earlier albums".[66]
In Drake's home country of Canada,Views sold 110,000album-equivalent units, and sold 92,000.[81] In the United States,Views debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200 charting dating May 21, 2016, with 1.04 million album-equivalent units in its first week of release, including 852,000 pure album sales and over 245 million streams (despite the album, with the exclusion of its singles released at the time, only available to stream onApple Music for the first two weeks), more than previous record 115.2 million byBeyoncé'sLemonade (despite that album only available to stream onTidal).[82] It had the biggest week for an album sinceAdele's25 collected 1.19 million units in its fifth week of release (week ending December 24, 2015).[83] The last album by a male artist to post a bigger pure album sales week wasJustin Timberlake'sThe 20/20 Experience, when it debuted with 968,000 copies sold in the week ending March 24, 2013.[83]Views became Drake's sixth consecutive number-one album (fifth as solo artist) on theBillboard 200 and largest sales week.[84] It stayed in the top spot for nine consecutive weeks, and spent a total of 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one.[85][86] In the year 2016, it accumulated 4.14 million equivalent album units, of which 1.6 million were pure sales, ranking as the second best-selling album of the year in pure sales, and themost-consumed album based on album-equivalent units.[87]
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on theUK Albums Chart, with 78,000 sales, becoming Drake's first number-one on that chart.[88] WithViews, Drake also joined Adele,Michael Bublé, andTaylor Swift as the only artists in the 2010s decade to have an album remain at number one on theBillboard 200 for six consecutive weeks.[89] Overall, as of 2016,Views has attained one billion streams in the United States, according to his record label.[90] As of April 2018,Views has sold 1.73 million recognized copies and a total of 5.41 million album-equivalent units in the United States.[91]
Nearly every song fromViews charted on theBillboard Hot 100 during its debut week; Drake held 20 songs on the chart.[92] As a result, he broke the record for most songs on theBillboard Hot 100, simultaneously.[93] He would later go on to break his own record twice, once throughMore Life in 2017, and again throughScorpion in 2018.[94] Several of the songs on the album also wentplatinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[95]
Views was ranked as the second most popular album of 2016 on theBillboard 200.[96] The following year it was ranked as the thirteenth most popular album of the 2017,[97] and in 2018, two years after its release, the album was ranked as the forty-seventh most popular album of the year.[98]
"9" contains a sample of "Dying", performed byMavado featuringSerani.
"U with Me?" contains a sample of "What These Bitches Want"; and contains an interpolation of "How's It Goin' Down", performed byDMX; and an interpolation of "Views from the 6", performed by Drake.
"Weston Road Flows" contains a sample of "Mary's Joint", performed byMary J. Blige.
"One Dance" contains a sample of "Do You Mind (Crazy Cousins Remix)", performed byPaleface featuringKyla.
"Feel No Ways" contains a sample of "World's Famous", performed byMalcolm McLaren.
"Redemption" contains a sample of "One Wish", performed byRay J.
"Faithful" contains samples of "Get Gone", performed byIdeal; and "Tom Ford (Remix)", performed byJay-Z featuringPimp C.
"Controlla" contains a sample of "Tear Off Mi Garment", performed byBeenie Man.
"Childs Play" contains a sample of "Rode That Dick Like a Soldier", performed by Ha-Sizzle.
"Too Good" contains a sample of "Love Yuh Bad", performed byPopcaan.
"Fire & Desire" contains a sample of "I Dedicate (Part I, II, & III)", performed byBrandy.
"Views" contains a sample of "The Question Is", performed byThe Winans.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Cowan, Andy (August 2016). "Drake: Views".Mojo. No. 273. p. 95.Drake's genuinely fleet-footed flows and sly humour prevent his pained introspection descending into a cheesy whine fest.
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