Views takes influence from West Indian and
West African music. The album marks Drake's first full foray into Jamaican
dancehall music, while also featuring other genres such as
R&B,
trap,
Afrobeat,
UK funky, and
pop. 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 US
Billboard Hot 100, "
Hotline Bling", "
Pop Style", "
Controlla", and "
Too Good".
The album debuted at number one on the US
Billboard 200, with 1.04 million
album-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 the Billboard 200 and became Drake's first number-one album on the
UK Albums Chart. All 20 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album's title was first announced as Views from the 6, as it first appeared from a report in a July 2014 article from Billboard.[6] According to Drake on Twitter, "the 6" is a reference to his hometown of
Toronto, Ontario. On April 29, 2016, it was revealed that the title had been shortened to Views.[7]
Artwork
The cover artwork for Views was released via Drake's Twitter account on April 24, 2016, which features Drake sitting atop the
CN 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 be
photoshopped.[10][11][12] The album cover and booklet were shot by Toronto-based photographer
Caitlin Cronenberg.[8] The album cover draws inspiration from the alternate cover for
Eminem's seventh studio album, Recovery (2010), which depicts the rapper sitting in a transparent living room in the shape of a rectangular cube, with Detroit's
Renaissance Center in the near far background.[13][14]
Themes and production
Songs on Views see Drake discussing his relationship woes, experiences with betrayal, and celebrations of loyalty and friendship.[15] Writing for Vice, 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 of If You're Reading This It's Too Late [that] has bloomed into the more fleshed-out format of Take Care."[16] Elliott Sharp of
Red Bull Music described the album's vibe as "chill, slow, smooth, soft, silk, and sleepy".[17] In an interview with
Apple Music's
Zane Lowe, Drake said that the theme of the album is the "haphazard, ever-changing weather in Toronto."[16]
Drake premiered a single, titled "
Summer Sixteen" through OVO Sound Radio on January 30, 2016. The track was
produced by
40,
Boi-1da and
Cubeatz. The song contains a slowed-down sample of "Glass Tubes" performed by
Brian Bennett.[23] The
cover art was designed by Filip Pągowski, who was a creator of the
Comme des Garçons logo.[24] The song peaked at number six on the US
Billboard Hot 100, selling 215,000 copies in its first week, making it the highest debut sales of Drake's career.[25] As of March 27, 2016, the single sold 358,000 copies in the United States.[26]
On April 4, 2016, the album was initially teased in London.[27][28] On April 9, Drake released a trailer for Views on Twitter.[7] On April 26, Drake revealed that Views would include 20 or more songs than any of his previous albums, excluding the bonus tracks.[29] 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 on
Apple Music's OVO Sound Radio, following his interview with
Beats 1's radio host
Zane Lowe, and then released on both Apple Music and
iTunes exclusively,[30] 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 of Saturday Night Live, where he sang "One Dance" and "Hype".[31] On September 26, Drake released a short film on Apple Music, titled "Please Forgive Me", which features several songs from Views.[32]
Singles
"
Hotline Bling" was released as the album's
lead single on July 31, 2015, the song was produced by
Nineteen85.[33][34] Despite the song being released as the official lead single for Views, "Hotline Bling" was included as the bonus track on the album.[35]
"
One Dance" was released as the album's second single on April 5, 2016.[36] The song features
guest appearances from Nigerian singer
Wizkid and British singer
Kyla.[36] Wizkid also co-wrote and co-produced the song.[34] Nineteen85 also produced the song, with co-production by
DJ Maphorisa and Drake's longtime collaborator
40.[37] It spent 15 consecutive weeks atop the
UK Singles Chart.[38]
"
Pop Style" was released as the album's third single on April 5, 2016.[39] The song features guest appearances from American
hip hop duo The Throne (composed of rappers
Kanye West and
Jay-Z),[39] while the production was handled by
Sevn Thomas and
Frank Dukes, with additional production by Drake's longtime collaborator
Boi-1da, alongside 40.[34] 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.[40]
"
Controlla" was released as the album's fourth single in the United States on June 7, 2016.[41] The song was produced by Boi-1da, with co-production by
Supa Dups and
Allen Ritter, with additional production by
Di Genius.[34] The leaked version features a guest appearance from Jamaican dancehall artist
Popcaan.[42]
"
Too Good" was released as the album's fifth single on July 26, 2016.[43] The song features a guest appearance from Barbadian singer
Rihanna, while the production was handled by Nineteen85, with additional production by Supa Dups.[34]
Other songs
In August 2014, a one-minute-long snippet, titled "Views from the Six" was
leaked online.[44] On September 24, 2016, an extended version of "Faithful" with two additional verses from
Dvsn was premiered on OVO Sound Radio.[45] On May 21, 2016, the remix version for "Hype" featuring
Lil Wayne, premiered on OVO Sound Radio.[46] On February 17, 2017,
Future premiered an extended cut of the song "Grammys" with additional verse from himself on his radio show, Freebandz Radio.[47]
Views was met with lukewarm reviews from critics.[60] At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 69, based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[49] Aggregator
AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[48]
Many reviewers found it overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically;[61] according to
MTV'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".[60] Reviewing Views in The 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."[62] In The 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".[51]Neil McCormick wrote in The 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.[52] Andy Gill of The 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."[63]
Alexis Petridis wrote a largely positive review in The Guardian, arguing that Views "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".[54] In The Observer,
Kitty Empire found the lyrical and production detail "pin-sharp",[56] and Mojo's Andy Cowan wrote that the overly introspective themes were redeemed by Drake's nimble
flow and clever sense of humor.[64]NME journalist Nick Levine said his "signature brand of downbeat introspection remains gripping".[55]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".[65]
In Drake's home country of Canada, Views sold 110,000
album-equivalent units, and sold 92,000.[80] In the United States, Views debuted at number one on the US
Billboard 200, with 1.04 million album-equivalent units, selling 852,000 copies in its first week of release, and achieving over 245 million streams (despite the album, with the exclusion of its singles released at the time, only available to stream on
Apple Music for the first two weeks), more than previous record 115.2 million by
Beyoncé's Lemonade (despite that album only available to stream on
Tidal).[81] It had the biggest week for an album since
Adele's 25 collected 1.19 million units in its fifth week of release (week ending December 24, 2015).[82] The last album by a male artist to post a bigger pure album sales week was
Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience, when it debuted with 968,000 copies sold in the week ending March 24, 2013.[82]Views became Drake's sixth consecutive number-one album (fifth as solo artist) on the Billboard 200 and largest sales week.[83] 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 the
most-consumed album based on album-equivalent units.[84]
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart, with 78,000 sales, becoming Drake's first number-one on that chart.[85] With Views, Drake also joined Adele,
Michael Bublé, and
Taylor Swift as the only artists in the 2010s decade to have an album remain at number one on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks.[86] Overall, as of 2016, Views has attained one billion streams in the United States, according to his record label.[87] 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.[88]
Nearly every song from Views charted on the
Billboard Hot 100 during its debut week; Drake held 20 songs on the chart.[89] As a result, he broke the record for most songs on the Billboard Hot 100, simultaneously.[90] He would later go on to break his own record twice, once through More Life in 2017, and again through Scorpion in 2018.[91] Several of the songs on the album also went
platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[92]
Views was ranked as the second most popular album of 2016 on the Billboard 200.[93] The following year it was ranked as the thirteenth most popular album of the 2017,[94] and in 2018, two years after its release, the album was ranked as the forty-seventh most popular album of the year.[95]
"9" contains a sample of "Dying", performed by
Mavado featuring
Serani.
"U with Me?" contains a sample of "
What These Bitches Want"; and contains an interpolation of "
How's It Goin' Down", performed by
DMX; and an interpolation of "Views from the 6", performed by Drake.
"Weston Road Flows" contains a sample of "Mary's Joint", performed by
Mary J. Blige.
"One Dance" contains a sample of "Do You Mind (Crazy Cousins Remix)", performed by
Paleface featuring
Kyla.
"Feel No Ways" contains a sample of "World's Famous", performed by
Malcolm McLaren.
"Redemption" contains a sample of "
One Wish", performed by
Ray J.
"Faithful" contains samples of "Get Gone", performed by
Ideal; and "Tom Ford (Remix)", performed by
Jay-Z featuring
Pimp C.
"Controlla" contains a sample of "Tear Off Mi Garment", performed by
Beenie 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 by
Popcaan.
"Fire & Desire" contains a sample of "I Dedicate (Part I, II, & III)", performed by
Brandy.
"Views" contains a sample of "The Question Is", performed by
The 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.