More Life (2017) is catalogued as a playlist project in Drake Universe. The entry emphasizes release context, Toronto/OVO continuity, collaborators, and verified chart or cultural significance. Same-day 2026 projects include inline verification notes and avoid unverified credits.
Deep Dive
Background
Fifth commercial mixtape, marketed as a 'playlist,' released March 18, 2017 via Young Money / Cash Money / Republic, premiering on OVO Sound Radio. Preceded by the singles 'Fake Love,' 'Sneakin'' (with 21 Savage), and 'Two Birds, One Stone,' all debuted on Drake's 30th-birthday OVO Sound Radio episode in October 2016. Title is a Jamaican Patois well-wishing phrase popularized by Vybz Kartel; cover photo is Drake's father, Dennis Graham, in the 1970s.
Themes
Global Pop DrakePlaylist conceptUK rap and grimeAfro-house and AfrobeatsCaribbean dancehallOVOToronto
Production
Anchored by Toronto's OVO core — Noah '40' Shebib, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, T-Minus, Vinylz, Frank Dukes — but deliberately widened with curated outside producers: London's Nana Rogues (Passionfruit, Skepta Interlude), Murda Beatz and Cubeatz (No Long Talk, Portland), FrancisGotHeat (4422), iBeatz (Gyalchester), Hagler (Teenage Fever), Supah Mario and S1 (Ice Melts), Jazzfeezy (Can't Have Everything), and Kanye West (Glow). Sample sources span Hiatus Kaiyote, Black Coffee, Burna Boy (uncredited), Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, Earth Wind & Fire, R. Kelly, and Skepta — a credits sheet that itself maps the project's global thesis.
Legacy
Widely treated as the moment Drake's 'curator' instinct overtook his 'auteur' instinct, and a key vector for UK grime (Skepta, Giggs), South African house (Black Coffee), Afrobeats (Burna Boy, Wizkid-adjacent palette), and Caribbean dancehall crossing into mainstream American R&B and hip-hop charts. Passionfruit became a generational standard and a Diamond-certified single; Fake Love went 6x Platinum; the playlist format it normalized was widely imitated across the industry.
Best For
Listeners tracing how Drake globalized pop-rap, and how the streaming era dissolved the boundary between an album, a mixtape, and a playlist.
Fun Fact
Tracklist — 22 songs
- 1★Free Smoke
- 2★No Long Talk
- 3★Passionfruit
- 4★Jorja Interlude
- 5★Get It Together
- 6★Madiba Riddim
- 7★Blem
- 8★4422
- 9★Gyalchester
- 10★Skepta Interlude
- 11★Portland
- 12★Sacrifices
- 13★Nothings Into Somethings
- 14★Teenage Fever
- 15★KMT
- 16★Lose You
- 17★Can't Have Everything
- 18★Glow
- 19★Since Way Back
- 20★Fake Love
- 21★Ice Melts
- 22★Do Not Disturb
Producers — 31
Noah "40" Shebib6 tracks
Boi-1da2 tracks
Allen Ritter2 tracks
Murda Beatz2 tracks
Cubeatz2 tracks
Nana Rogues2 tracks
Nineteen852 tracks
Stwo2 tracks
T-Minus2 tracks
Frank Dukes2 tracks
G. Ry2 tracks
Akira Woodgrain1 track
Charlie Handsome1 track
FrancisGotHeat1 track
iBeatz1 track
Deejae1 track
Wallis Lane1 track
Nabeyin1 track
Hagler1 track
Ness1 track
Chef Pasquale1 track
Jazzfeezy1 track
Steve Samson1 track
Kanye West1 track
Noah Goldstein1 track
PARTYNEXTDOOR1 track
M3rge1 track
TOPFLR1 track
Vinylz1 track
Supah Mario1 track
S11 trackFeatured Artists — 11
Era — Global Pop Drake (2016-2017)
Dancehall, afrobeats, UK rap, Toronto winter, and streaming-era scale.
Also in this era
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to More Life. Drake Universe catalogs albums by verified release structure, collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and holds back time-delayed chart, certification, and publishing claims until public ledgers settle.
- Rolling Stone: The Rolling Stone Interview — Drake (2018)Rolling Stone · 2018-02-19 — Rolling Stone interview anchoring the More Life / God's Plan period.
- Pitchfork: Drake Announces Boy Meets World TourPitchfork · 2016-09-19 — Announcement and routing details for the 2017 More Life-era Boy Meets World international arena run.
- Wikipedia: More LifeWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Primary reference for More Life per-track production credits, songwriters, sample credits (liner-notes-adapted), playlist concept, release context, critical reception (Metacritic 79), and commercial/streaming performance.
