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i think my favourite thing about NWTS is that it was also meant to be played backwards
Drake said so himself in an interview
"The initial idea was to release two versions of the album. The deluxe version was going to flip the whole track list, so it would go ‘Pound Cake’ then ‘Too Much’ — it would go in reverse. It was a cool, different listening experience."
"The initial idea was to release two versions of the album. The deluxe version was going to flip the whole track list, so it would go ‘Pound Cake’ then ‘Too Much’ — it would go in reverse. It was a cool, different listening experience."
and as for why the concept fell through :
"We never brought it into fruition; I think it was some iTunes (issue) or something like that”.
"We never brought it into fruition; I think it was some iTunes (issue) or something like that”.
certain songs he leaves little easter eggs hinting at the whole thing, specifically in the lyrics. listening to the whole album with the tracklist reversed and you really can't miss it
Pound Cake
-from the Jimmy Smith sample
"We hope you e̲n̲j̲o̲y̲ listening to this album half as much as we enjoyed playing it for you”
"enjoy" = future tense
- "be on your worst behavior" are the last words we hear, foreshadowing Worst Behavior
-from the Jimmy Smith sample
"We hope you e̲n̲j̲o̲y̲ listening to this album half as much as we enjoyed playing it for you”
"enjoy" = future tense
- "be on your worst behavior" are the last words we hear, foreshadowing Worst Behavior
305 TO MY CITY
originally the 11th track but with the tracklist reversed, it becomes the 3rd song and Detail says :
"We so far from finished, I brought you right back just so we can relive it”
originally the 11th track but with the tracklist reversed, it becomes the 3rd song and Detail says :
"We so far from finished, I brought you right back just so we can relive it”
From Time
- the middle track of the album on both the backwards and original tracklists
the beat switches at the halfway point in the song, with a classic 40 reversal of the intrumental in the first verse
- the middle track of the album on both the backwards and original tracklists
the beat switches at the halfway point in the song, with a classic 40 reversal of the intrumental in the first verse
Worst Behavior
- next song immediately after From Time begins the 2nd half of the album and starts with a noise fading in. A noise which sounds like a tape being rewound/reversed
- next song immediately after From Time begins the 2nd half of the album and starts with a noise fading in. A noise which sounds like a tape being rewound/reversed
Own It & Wu Tang Forever
- the fact that both songs use the same Wu Tang sample + have pretty much the same subject matter and theme makes the transition between them so seamless. almost like they're both halves of the same song, with either possibly being the 1st or 2nd
- the fact that both songs use the same Wu Tang sample + have pretty much the same subject matter and theme makes the transition between them so seamless. almost like they're both halves of the same song, with either possibly being the 1st or 2nd
Started From The Bottom
- 3rd song on the on the original tracklist, 10th song on the reversed and he says:
“Started from the bottom, now we here” this alone confirms the whole theory imo but there's even more
- 3rd song on the on the original tracklist, 10th song on the reversed and he says:
“Started from the bottom, now we here” this alone confirms the whole theory imo but there's even more
Furthest Thing
- Drake raps "this the shit i wanna go out to" mutliple times at the end of the song. emphasis on the "go out to" just before Tuscan Leather, the album's i̶n̶t̶r̶o̶ outro starts playing
- Drake raps "this the shit i wanna go out to" mutliple times at the end of the song. emphasis on the "go out to" just before Tuscan Leather, the album's i̶n̶t̶r̶o̶ outro starts playing
Tuscan Leather
-1st beat is a reversed Whitney sample
-2nd beat and the 1st beat is flipped again, starting from the beatswitch
- here Drake raps "how much time is this nigga spending on the intro?” and follows it with "lately I been feeling like Guy Pearce in Memento”
-1st beat is a reversed Whitney sample
-2nd beat and the 1st beat is flipped again, starting from the beatswitch
- here Drake raps "how much time is this nigga spending on the intro?” and follows it with "lately I been feeling like Guy Pearce in Memento”
- Guy Pearce's character in Momento suffers from amnesia all while trying to piece his life back together. The movie plays backwards, showing the "end" first, and then goes in reverse all the way to the beginning
and finally, as the outro to Pound Cake hints to the last song being the first, these lines on the Tuscan outro hint to the first song being the last too
"We’d just like to close off with something inspirational… Close out with something, some food for thought for all of us"
"We’d just like to close off with something inspirational… Close out with something, some food for thought for all of us"
and nothing was ever the same once i realised just how well thought-out and cohesive the entire album is. truly his best project and no one can tell me otherwise
