Honestly, Nevermind.

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The album's journey began on the afternoon of June 16, 2022, when OVO Sound announced a new radio show, "Table For One," airing later that night. During this broadcast, which followed Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals, Drake surprised listeners by announcing the midnight release of his seventh album. He premiered tracks "Confusion" and "I Could Never" on the show and revealed work on a future project, Scary Hours 3. The entire album is dedicated to American fashion designer Virgil Abloh, who died in 2021, with an official music video for "Falling Back" released alongside the drop. Directed by Director X, the video features Drake marrying 23 different women, with basketball player Tristan Thompson appearing as his best man.

In Their Own Story

Honestly, Nevermind is driven by a Baltimore club influence, weaving in elements of Jersey club, hard techno, R&B, amapiano, and ballroom. While maintaining some of Drake's traditional hip-hop style, the project leans heavily into uncharted electronic realms. The album received generally positive reviews, with Metacritic assigning it an average score of 73 based on 14 reviews. Robin Murray of Clash described it as a "puzzle that will take a long time to fully unlock," while Jeff Ihaza of Rolling Stone called it a "collection of blissful dance tunes constructed for embrace and abandon." Conversely, some critics noted the shift; Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre felt the "half-measure house beats" kept it from popping off, and David Smyth of Evening Standard opined it felt like a "minor work."

Reader's Guide

The album's singles were rolled out strategically: "Sticky" and "Massive" hit rhythmic contemporary and contemporary hit radio on June 21, while the closing track "Jimmy Cooks" impacted contemporary hit radio on October 11 as the third single. "Jimmy Cooks" became Drake's eleventh US number-one song and 21 Savage's second. Commercially, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 204,000 units, including 11,000 pure sales, and earned 250.23 million on-demand streams in its first week. It became Drake's most-streamed dance album ever on Apple Music in a single day. By November 30, 2022, it had moved 728,000 units total and topped the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 20 weeks. On August 13, 2023, it was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Did You Know?

• The album is dedicated to fashion designer Virgil Abloh, who passed away in 2021.
• Drake announced the surprise release of Honestly, Nevermind during his own radio show premiere on Sound 42 immediately following Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals.
• The music video for "Falling Back" features Drake marrying 23 different women, with Tristan Thompson appearing as his best man.
• Honestly, Nevermind received the most first-day streams of any dance album ever on Apple Music.
• "Jimmy Cooks," the album's sole guest feature with 21 Savage, became Drake's eleventh US number-one song.