Nothing Was the Same Songwriting Credits by Drake

Nothing Was the Same is the third studio album by Drake, released in September 2013 on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records and produced primarily by Noah '40' Shebib. It consolidated the sonic territory of Take Care while pushing Drake's commercial standing to a new level, and the album that produced 'Started from the Bottom,' the self-mythologizing anthem that became one of the most quoted rap lines of the decade. Drake wrote or co-wrote all his own material; the album's lyrical themes address the paradox of success (wealth and celebrity as sources of loneliness and alienation rather than resolution) through the same introspective mode as Take Care but with a production palette that is slightly warmer and more melodic. 'Hold On, We're Going Home' (produced by Nineteen85, not Shebib) was the album's primary pop crossover track, a straightforward retro-R&B song that reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and introduced Drake to audiences who had not engaged with his rap material. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 658,000 first-week sales and has been certified five-times platinum in the United States. Nothing Was the Same is also notable for establishing Kendrick Lamar as a foil for Drake's style: Lamar's 2012 verse on Big Sean's 'Control' had challenged Drake directly, and the ensuing critical comparison between the two artists' approaches to mainstream rap would define the conversation about hip-hop excellence for the following decade.