Furthest Thing
"Furthest Thing" is built in two halves — a hushed, brooding opening that opens up into a brighter, more anthemic second section — mirroring the album's recurring split between introspection and ascent. It is produced by Noah "40" Shebib, who is also credited with pianos on the track, with Marvin "Hagler" Thomas credited as producer and drum programmer and Jake One credited as co-producer and drum programmer per the album's liner notes; Adrian "X" Eccleston contributes guitar. Drake spends the first part candidly cataloguing his contradictions and the distance between his public image and private self, then shifts into a more triumphant register as the beat brightens. Critics and fans widely read the song as a microcosm of Nothing Was the Same's central tension: a man fully aware of how he is perceived, narrating the space between perception and reality. Its two-part structure is frequently cited as an early, compact example of the album-wide pattern of pairing vulnerability with bravado inside a single track.
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to "Furthest Thing" and Nothing Was the Same. Drake Universe catalogs songs by album placement, verified collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and avoids unsupported lyric-level claims.
- Genius: Drake 'The Language' lyricsGenius · 2013-09-24 — Primary track page for the Nothing Was the Same cut widely read as subliminal.
- Billboard: Drake — Nothing Was The Same coverBillboard · 2013-08-22 — Billboard cover story for the 2013 print interview.
- Complex: Drake — Nothing Was The Same coverComplex · 2013-08-12 — Complex cover story tied to Nothing Was The Same.
- Vibe: Drake — Nothing Was The Same coverVibe · 2013-10-01 — Vibe cover story tied to Nothing Was The Same.
- Wikipedia: Nothing Was the SameWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Album-level reference for liner-note personnel, sample credits, single chronology, chart peaks, sales (658,000 first week), 6x platinum certification, and critical reception used in the NWTS editorial pass.
- Drake — The Motion (Genius)Genius · 2026-05-18 — Confirms 2013 SoundCloud release, Best Buy deluxe bonus-track status for Nothing Was the Same, and Sampha co-production/vocals.
- Drake — 5AM in Toronto (Genius)Genius · 2026-05-18 — Confirms March 7, 2013 release as '9AM in Dallas' sequel ahead of Nothing Was the Same, Boi-1da/Vinylz credits, Lou Donaldson sample.
