Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late Is First 2015 Hip-Hop Project To Reach Platinum
Just weeks following his social media ambush from collaborator-turned-foe Meek Mill, Drake adds another accolade to his resume. Drake’s February, 2015 release, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late has been certified platinum, according to respected source, Chart News. Drake also confirmed the news:
I.Y.R.T.I.T.L. is the second mixtape by Drake to achieve platinum status, following the double-plat’ So Far Gone, which released six years to the day prior. All three of Drizzy’s solo studio albums have reached the million-mark (or multiple) as well.
Initially offered to the public as a Soundcloud stream, the album would be formally released by Cash Money Records. The effort came while Drake’s mentor, Lil Wayne (who appears on “Used To”) has been publicly feuding with the label over unpaid royalties and contract agreements, claiming that he will eventually take Drake and other Young Money/Rich Gang artists with him upon exiting.
The 17-track (standard version) release also includes appearances by Travis $cott and PartyNextDoor, with production by Noah “40” Shebib, Boi-1da, Frank Dukes, and !llmind, among others. In the aforementioned rift between Drake and Meek, much of the project’s creation was called into question, with Meek playing reference tracks made by an Atlanta, Georgia MC named Quentin Miller in his diss record “Wanna Know.” Miller is a credited writer on one of those tracks, “10 Bands.”
Meek Mill, who has released two studio albums to date, has not achieved a gold or platinum album plaque, perhaps further adding to the dialog surrounding the dispute.
I.Y.R.I.T.L. produced one charting single on the US R&B/Rap charts, the PartyNextDoor-assisted “Preach.”
Drake’s mixtape is the first 2015 release to be certified platinum. Kendrick Lamar’s March album release, To Pimp A Butterfly has been certified gold, with more than 640,000 units scanned as of last month.
What does Drake’s latest achievement, if anything, say of his status at present?
Related: J. Cole Finally Gets His Platinum Plaque, Thanks To 2014 Forest Hills Drive