TORONTO — Drake has thrown open the gates to his digital archives with a staggering content dump of photographs, behind-the-scenes videos and songs.
The Toronto music superstar unleashed a massive trove of material on Tuesday afternoon without any previous announcement, sending his fans on an impromptu treasure hunt.
The files were released on 100gigs.org and organized in 40 folders named after various album releases and significant points in his career. All of the files were organized and dated from March 7 to June 8.
Atop the list of folders was one titled "New," which contained three previously unheard Drake tracks: "It's Up," featuring Young Thug and 21 Savage, "Housekeeping Knows," featuring Latto and "Blue Green Red."
Other archival footage stored on the site featured Drake on the music video set for "Hotline Bling," collaborating in the studio with his producers, and his friends goofing around backstage.
Drake's return comes after a short period of relative silence as his feud with L.A. rapper Kendrick Lamar hit a boiling point. Lamar emerged the victor of popular opinion when his track "Not Like Us" became one of the summer's breakout hits.
But Drake has largely shied away from the conflict in recent weeks.
On Friday, he performed a surprise set at R&B singer Partynextdoor's Toronto concert, saying he's been working on a collaborative album with his label mate that will be released in the fall.
Those words set the table for Drake's content deluge on Tuesday.
It started when Drake posted clips of three songs to his official Instagram account. They offered a clue that pointed his followers to a different profile named "plottttwistttttt."
The new Instagram account was stacked with photographs, all of which were uploaded in the weeks after it was created in June. There was also a link to the 100gigs website.
Aside from musical footage, the website stored a number of other curiosities.
One folder included footage of Drake's producer Noah (40) Shebib renovating the recording studio at his former "YOLO Estate" in California, which he sold in 2022.
Another appeared to show women at Houston strip club Area 29 counting piles of U.S. cash on the floor of the club.
In 2021, Drake faced some criticism after he reportedly spent $1 million at Area 29 in the hours following his performance at Travis Scott's ill-fated Astroworld concert. That show is where 10 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a deadly crowd crush.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2024.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
