Till They Show Me Love Lyrics

Drake talks criticism, singing, sweaters and doing things his way

The story of the album is, I had a song on “So Far Gone” called “Houstatlantavegas.” It was how I viewed America living in Canada. I would be able to watch this magical world from behind this glass window, and I still feel that way. When I go home, there’s no MediaTakeOut, there’s no paparazzi, there’s none of that. It’s a safe zone for me, Canada. “Houstatlantavegas” was the first time I ever went to Magic City in Atlanta and I’m looking at these women, and all this money, and ice and bottles. My eyes were so wide. I was just this kid observing. Fast-forward three years later, and I’m a king in that world. I can go anywhere. It's all eyes on us. That’s the story of the album.  The first cover had the boy reaching up for the money and the heart because that’s something that I’ve always wanted in my life: money and love. “Thank Me Later” had the boy with the angel wings taking flight. I didn’t put a boy on this album cover because the boy is me, and it’s sort of a young, conflicted king in that world. That’s why there’s all the gold. That’s a surreal feeling. Going from that eager Toronto kid to now. It’s a very reflective album. Not to sound weird or depressed, but to have my own moments I’ll go up the street to my house and have dinner at this italian restaurant by myself. Have some wine and think, and sort of slow it down. I’m starting to value my alone time and finding peace at being alone. That’s what the cover represents. It was interesting for me because I'm trying to adapt to these things as they’re happening and going on around me. The shows are getting bigger; we’re booking more and more shows; it’s more of a demand. I think there was more just slowing everything down and getting a grasp of "look, we’re here, this … does not last forever, let's do what we know how to do with our brand and let's do it every way we want to do it.”

It’s hard to stop and slow down and really document all the things that are happening to you. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is start paying attention to details and writing them down, and start talking to kids about what I’ve gone through, since I dropped out of high school and wanted to become a rapper -- and why it's worked for me and why it hasn’t worked for other people. I think the thing that boggles my mind the most is when people shun me or sort of nitpick at me for utilizing melody like singing. Making actual songs, and musical pieces. And they are like, “Aw, man, that’s so soft, that … is so wack, just rap, that’s all you need to do.” That’s when I truly feel, I don’t know if misunderstood is the right word, but I just don’t get it. The greatest musicians have used melody to connect with the world and I just don’t know if it frustrates people because I do both or there’s some men out there that hear R&B and start feeling weird inside and don’t wanna accept it, so they start using stupid words like “you’re gay” for doing that. I just have different ways of expressing myself. Legends like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Al Green, my dad always tells me those were the coolest cats in the world and it was all because it was just that melody and that connection. I don’t understand our generation, where nobody is allowed to really express any real emotion. I think that’s a scary place to be for our youth. I know there’s always going to be close-minded people. But I think I make it so accessible. It's not tear your shirt off in the rain R&B. It’s got a purpose. I’m so open, I’ve got nothing to hide. That’s my favorite thing about being me … I don’t wake up in the morning and say, “Man, this is going to come out today,” or this is going to come out in a year and I’m going to be done. When they ask me questions about any situation I’ve been in I always answer it up front. And, yeah, I catch flack for it sometimes because I put my emotions out there. But I’m not lying to you, at least. Maybe it's just time. I feel like time will reveal just how I sacrificed to be this artist, as far as my honesty goes. I’ve definitely created many awkward moments for myself by being that open in my music. I have this line on [“Lord Knows”] where I say, “They take the greats from the past and compare us. I wonder if they’d ever survive in this era, in a time when its recreation to pull all of your skeletons out of the closet like Halloween decorations.” To me, that’s real ... You wake up and it’s like true or false, it doesn’t really matter because people make up [things] about me all the time. If it’s a clean day, and there are no stories I’m happy. It’s such a reach to try and find something. So its like "He wears too many sweaters." I laugh at it because it's like "OK, let that be my worst problem." I don’t have a record, I’m not doing any wild … on TMZ. Yeah, I wear a lot of sweaters. I love sweaters. Fair enough. I’ll be the guy that wears great sweaters. Thank God it wasn’t me passed out in a hotel from an overdose. I’m proud of who I am and if sweaters are my focal point, let that be my worst. Every time you do an album, a part of you goes, "I’ve gotta get everybody on this. I gotta get this beat from this person, I’ve gotta get six beats from 'Ye." To me, I have the best producers around me, period.  So, it’s hard for me to go out and extend my hand to someone and say, "I need you," when I can probably just do something better over here. Last album, I failed to realize that. It made for some great songs. But the strongest songs came from Boi-1da, [Noah “40” Shebib]. I had Timbaland on “Thank Me Later” [he produced the title track], but it wasn’t a single. Nobody really talked about that joint. That’s why I picked that beat, because it wasn’t a blatent attempt. The Kanye joints ["Find Your Love," "Show Me a  Good Time"] were big. This album, I wanted to see what it sounds like if we did it with just us. I never would. That’s not even my character to sit here and tell you that’s a classic written song. As soon as I said it, I felt myself say, “Why did I say that?” That’s not my place to say that. It’s your place to say that if you feel that way. But I should never say that. The only way I speak is through my work. I don’t ever want to comment on it or say what I think about this or that. I know when I’ve done great work. I know when I’ve done not so great work. I'm not completely out of touch. But, it’s hard for me to compliment myself because I always want to do something better.

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