Drake has taken fans on a trip down memory lane to celebrate the eighth anniversary of Views.
Taking to Instagram in the early hours of Monday morning (April 29), Drizzy shared a series of throwback pictures from the around the time of his blockbuster 2016 album.
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His post included early art designs, promotional campaign material and a screenshot of a text from his business partner Oliver El-Khatib about enlisting the late Virgil Abloh for an OVO Sound Radio mix.
“Views April 29,” he wrote in the caption.
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Drake’s nostalgic post was met with a flood of fond memories from fans, with one writing: “8 years ago this project changed my life.”
Another said: “You just had to be dere.”
Drake’s fourth studio album, Views debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with over a million equivalent sales units in its first week, which remains the highest tally of his career.
The international-flavored project was home to hits like “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance” and “Controlla,” with guest appearances coming from Rihanna, Future, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Pimp C, Wizkid and dvsn.
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During an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 around the time of its release, Drake described Views as the best vocal performance of his career up until that point.
“This album is probably my highest level of vocal performance,” he said at the time. “Do I want to listen to myself or other songs that I’m into? If I didn’t wanna listen to myself, that’s a problem there.”
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Speaking on recording the album in his hometown of Toronto, he said: “We really love our summers but we really make our winters work. I thought it was very important to do the album here.”
Views was originally called Views from the 6, with Drake explaining the change of title in the same interview.
“I think the announcement was more than just the album title,” he said. “It was a shift in the city – we saw an opening there. The name took on a life of its own.”
Views standout “Feel No Ways” was recently brought back into the public eye thanks to Future and Metro Boomin.
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The duo’s second album We Still Don’t Trust You was released earlier this month and includes a track called “This Sunday,” which features the same hook as “Feel No Ways.”
Future is credited as a co-writer on the Views version, but it’s unclear whether it originally belonged to the Atlanta rapper or he simply created it as a reference track.
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“This Sunday” previously leaked in 2015, a year before Views came out. However, its official release almost a decade later has led fans to believe that it’s further proof there are issues between Future and Drake.
