Honestly, Nevermind

Background and promotion

In March 2021, Drake launched Sound 42, a satellite radio channel on SiriusXM, with OVO Sound Radio as its main show, bringing back the program that had run on Apple Music from July 2015 to October 2018. That same night, he dropped his fourth EP, Scary Hours 2, at midnight and said his sixth album, Certified Lover Boy, was coming soon; it arrived on September 3. On June 16, 2022, OVO Sound tweeted that Drake would host his own show, Table For One, on Sound 42 later that evening.

Just hours after, he surprised fans on Instagram by announcing his seventh album, Honestly, Nevermind, would release at midnight. After Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals, he played "Confusion" and "I Could Never" on the show and mentioned he was working on Scary Hours 3. The album is a tribute to Virgil Abloh, the American fashion designer who passed away in 2021. A music video for "Falling Back," directed by Director X, came out with the album, showing Drake marrying 23 women, with basketball player Tristan Thompson as his best man.

The only guest on the album is 21 Savage, featured on the final track "Jimmy Cooks." The first singles, "Sticky" and "Massive," went to rhythmic contemporary and contemporary hit radio on June 21, while "Jimmy Cooks" hit contemporary hit radio on October 11 as the third single. On November 26, 2022, Drake said Honestly, Nevermind is part of a trilogy that started with Certified Lover Boy and continued with Her Loss.

Critical reception

Critics generally liked Honestly, Nevermind. The album earned a 73 out of 100 on Metacritic from 14 professional reviews, which the site classifies as "generally favorable." AnyDecentMusic? gave it a 6.7 out of 10 based on critical consensus. Robin Murray of Clash described the record as a long-term puzzle and a drastic shift that will both intrigue and annoy listeners.

Tim Sendra of AllMusic saw it as a positive change for Drake, a detour from his trap-heavy recent work, noting that while the themes remain melancholy and self-focused, the sound is lively and interesting. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times praised it as a light, escapist, and liberating collection of club tracks, calling it a clear step into a new phase for Drake and one that will irritate hip-hop traditionalists. Jeff Ihaza of Rolling Stone highlighted the album's carefree, danceable nature, saying Drake ventures into unfamiliar territory more boldly than his contemporaries.

Vivian Medithi of HipHopDX argued that Drake finally made the album he personally wanted, working with trusted producers and sounding more focused and balanced than he has in years. Alex Swhear of Variety found it a welcome change of pace and a vibrant pop record likely to define the summer. Louis Pavlakos of Exclaim! pointed out that the album's unusual style is clear from the start, with the opener "Falling Back" being a weak choice due to Drake's falsetto, but the rest of the album rarely stumbles.

Commercial performance

Honestly, Nevermind debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 204,000 album-equivalent units, including 11,000 pure album sales, and its tracks earned 250.23 million on-demand streams. It is Drake's eleventh number-one album in the US and received the most first-day streams of any dance album ever on Apple Music. In its second week, it fell to number three with 73,000 album-equivalent units. As of November 30, 2022, it was the twenty-ninth best-selling album of the year according to Hits, moving 728,000 album-equivalent units total, including 16,000 pure album sales, 60,000 song sales, 899 million audio-on-demand streams, and 41 million video-on-demand streams.

It was the most-popular Dance/Electronic album in the US in 2022 and topped Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums for 20 weeks. On August 13, 2023, the RIAA certified it platinum for over one million units in the United States.

Track listing

The album includes sample credits: "Currents" contains samples of "Some Cut" by Trillville and an uncredited sample of "Shake it to the Ground" by Blaqstarr and Rye Rye. "Calling My Name" contains samples of "Blow Ya Pussy Up" by Tapp and "Oye Ohene" by Obrafour. "Sticky" contains uncredited dialogue from Virgil Abloh's 2017 "Everything in Quotes" lecture at Columbia University's GSAPP. "Flight's Booked" contains samples of "Getting Late" by Floetry. "Jimmy Cooks" contains samples of "Just Awaken Shaken" by Playa Fly and "You Were Gone" by Brook Benton.