Drake announces sixth studio album and releases a surprise mixtape

Drake is using his time at home wisely. The Canadian rapper made two big announcements on Thursday, surprising fans with a tentative release date for his sixth studio album and releasing an unannounced mixtape in full. We’re about to have a lot more songs to do the Toosie Slide to while physically distancing.Calling the new mix tape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Drake released the 14 tracks in full late Thursday night.  “My brothers @oliverelkhatib @ovonoel put together a lot of the songs people have been asking for,” wrote Drake in the caption for the announcement, which includes a new photo of the musician as well as the album cover for Dark Lane Demo Tapes. The mix tape includes several feature appearances, some with artists Drake has previously collaborated with, including Chris Brown, Future, Playboi Carti, Giveon, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign and Sosa Greek War.

 

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My brothers @oliverelkhatib @ovonoel put together alot of the songs people have been asking for (some leaks and some joints from SoundCloud and some new vibes) DARK LANE DEMO TAPES out everywhere at midnight…also my 6th STUDIO ALBUM DROPPING SUMMER 2020!!! Lucky number 6 ? soon fwd

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Apr 30, 2020 at 4:52pm PDT

[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: Drake thanks health heroes after needing their service first-hand[/video_embed]Comprised of new songs as well as tracks that have leaked, Drizzy’s latest mixtape also includes his most recent single “Toosie Slide.” Drake didn’t let a little thing like a global pandemic stop him from filming a music video for the earworm and used his newly finished massive Toronto mansion as the set for the song's visuals. The video for “Toosie Slide” shows Drake in the quintessential 2020 look of gloves and a facemask as he moves from room to room in his home and demonstrates the Atlanta based dance moves the song is named for. The video concludes with Drake walking from his indoor pool to his outdoor pool (of course) before a firework display is set off. It’s good to be Drizzy.There’s a good chance that Dark Lane Demo Tapes will make a big impact on the charts not only became many artists have decided to delay releasing new music in the current climate. Drake has had one of the most successful mixtape careers in music, breaking mainstream radio with his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone, which included the singles “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful.” In 2015, he released If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which earned Grammy, Billboard, BET and Polaris Music Prize nominations and featured the single “Energy.” Most recently, Drake dropped the 2017 mixtape More Life, which included the singles “Fake Love” and “Passionfruit” and included feature appearances by Kanye West and PartyNextDoor.In addition to his mixtape news, Drake also announced that his sixth studio album will be ‘dropping summer 2020.’ The Toronto native ended the message by writing “Lucky number 6, soon fwd.” The new album will arrive two years after Drake’s 2018 Scorpion, which featured the singles "God's Plan," "Nice for What," "I'm Upset," and "In My Feelings.” Scorpion broke both Spotify and Apple single-day streaming records, earned three number ones on the Billboard charts and was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys.Drake has been trending on Twitter since announcing his album and dropping his mix tape. NBA superstar Trae Young kept his review of Drizzy’s new release succinct, rating him one spot behind Jay-Z. Not bad.

The Rankings:1. Hov2.Drake

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 1, 2020

Drake’s new music release comes less than a week after the Canadian musician closed out the Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble charity special. Speaking about his own recent hospital stay for a non-coronavirus related issue, Drake thanked those working in the medical field. “Just to see the morale—the smiles, the high spirits—on everyone’s face that I got to encounter in that situation despite everything going on, it’s just incredible to see people who have to leave their families every day and go to work amidst this crisis, as dangerous as it is, just really the glue holding us all together. So thanks so much for that,” said Drake. “I’m looking forward to the day when we will be reunited whether it be face-to-face or through something else we do,” he added. “I’ll be there with a smile on my face and until then, please keep [in mind] all these people who are truly out here [working on the frontlines].”[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Grandson makes TikTok video with grandma even while physical distancing[/video_embed]