There are references here to specific people (вЂњRedemptionвЂќ), places (вЂњWeston Road FlowsвЂќ), and experiences (вЂњViewsвЂќ), along with nods to the influence of the cityвЂ™s Caribbean population on вЂњWith You,вЂќ вЂњControlla,вЂќ and вЂњToo GoodвЂќ (which just happens to feature Rihanna).

вЂњI made a decision last night that I would die for it,вЂќ Drake raps on вЂњ9.вЂќ вЂњJust to show the city what it takes to be alive for it.вЂќ DrakeвЂ™s presence eclipsed Toronto just about as soon as So Far Gone dropped, but the city-and what it thinks of him-was never far from his mind. Views, which followed two wildly successful projects in 2015 that heвЂ™d branded as mixtapes- If YouвЂ™re Reading This ItвЂ™s Too Late and the Future collab What a Time to Be Alive-would confirm him as both, his penchant for immaculate songwriting still fully intact and the pressures of existing as the most popular voice in rap, as well as his hometownвЂ™s most successful export, weighing heavy on his mind.

He looks less like the superhero heвЂ™d made himself into over the course of a roughly six-year rise as singer-songwriter extraordinaire and more like a troubled monarch. On the cover of his fourth studio album Views, Drake looks down from atop TorontoвЂ™s CN Tower, paying homage to the cityвЂ™s notoriously frigid winter temperatures in a heavyweight shearling coat and high-cut boots.

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