The Grammy-winning rapper ditched the usual album cycle, no teasers, no cover art countdowns, no lead singles, instead opting for cinematic live streams on YouTube that blend unreleased tracks with surreal storytelling.
The first episode, which aired July 4 from an ice warehouse in Toronto, ran nearly an hour and featured Drake dancing through the facility and measuring ice blocks before premiering “What Did I Miss?” Drake told Complex that the idea for the live-stream format came from his dissatisfaction with the repetitive nature of modern album releases. The streams are ambitious in both scope and production. According to Matte Babel, chief brand officer at DreamCrew and part of Drake’s management team, Episode 3 in Milan required “20 cameras, over 100 crew, over 10 locations.”