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June 15 marks the 10th anniversary of Drake’s debut studio album, Thank Me Later. The Toronto rapper immediately gets personal on the opening track, “Fireworks,” by addressing a short-lived relationship with Rihanna. In an October 2011 interview with Elle, Drake explained the song was written after he felt “hurt” by the realization that he had more invested in the relationship than Rihanna.
“At the time it hurt, but she didn’t mean to. I’ll never put that on her,” Drake told Elle. “I was hurt because I started to slowly realize what it was. I guess I thought it was more. That was the first girl with any fame that paid me any mind. You spend days reading about this person in the magazines. All of a sudden you have this No. 1 song and you’re at some birthday party and there she is.”
On “Fireworks,” Drake references Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge, a New York City bowling alley where he and Rihanna were first spotted together:
I could tell it wasn’t love, I just thought you’d f-ck with me
Who could’ve predicted Lucky Strike would have you stuck with me
Drake continues by pondering what went wrong and seems to imply Rihanna thought he was using her for clout:
Damn, I kept my wits about me luckily
What happened between us that night? It always seems to trouble me
Now all of a sudden, these gossip rags want to cover me
And you making it seem like it happened that way because of me
He concludes the verse by appreciating the lesson he learned from the experience:
You could’ve been the one but it wasn’t that serious
There was smoke in the air before, that was me clearing it
That felt good, all in all, I learned a lesson from it though
You never see it coming, you just get to see it go
In an interview with The New York Times following the release of Thank Me Later, Drake expressed a different perspective.
“I was a pawn,” he said. “You know what she was doing to me? She was doing exactly what I’ve done to so many women throughout my life, which is show them quality time, then disappear. I was like, ‘Wow, this feels terrible.’”
He later clarified the comment in an interview with Hot 97, explaining that he was trying to “pay homage” to how nervous Rihanna made him feel on the song:
I’m 23 years old, and I feel like I’m on top of the world right now. And it’s very rare that I feel small around anybody, especially a woman that I like. It’s just I am in a confident position right now. And really, my whole purpose for putting that on the album was just to pay homage to the fact that she is an amazing woman that made me feel nervous, man. She made me feel small. She’s an overwhelming being, like, she’s beautiful and talented and her personality—it’s almost like scary. And for the first time, a woman just brought back that feeling of when I was 17 or 18, and I appreciate it so much because you get into this position and sometimes you just get numb to all those emotions that used to inspire you to write.
Coincidentally, Thank Me Later also contains Drake’s Top 5 hit, “Find Your Love,” which was originally written for Rihanna.
Drake and Rihanna have had an up-and-down personal and musical relationship since 2009. That November, Rihanna told Hot 97 radio host Angie Martinez that she and Drake were “still friends” while denying they ever had a romance.
In October 2010, they united on Rihanna’s No. 1 hit, “What’s My Name?,” which led to a pair of steamy performances at the 2011 Grammy Awards and the NBA All-Star Game halftime show. They followed up with Drake’s “Take Care” from his 2011 album of the same name, featuring a seductive music video that was released in April 2012.
The rapper continued to praise Rihanna in interviews with Ellen DeGeneres and Rolling Stone before joining her on 2016’s “Work,” their second No. 1 collaboration. Later that year, Rihanna repaid the favor on “Too Good,” from Drake’s album, Views.
Drake furthered expressed his love for Rihanna at the 2016 MTV VMAs while presenting her with the Vanguard Award. “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old,” he said. “She’s one of my best friends in the world. All my adult life I’ve looked up to her even though she’s younger than me. She’s a living, breathing legend in our industry.”
Although there were rumors of a rekindled romance following the speech, Rihanna reportedly “winced” when Drake’s name was brought up in a 2018 Vogue interview.
“Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don’t like too many compliments; I don’t like to be put on blast,” she said, before explaining that their relationship has soured. “We don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either. It is what it is.”
Thanks to vulnerable songs like “Fireworks” and “Find Your Love,” Thank Me Later was a commercial success. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 447,000 copies solid during its first week and was certified Platinum in July 2010.
Catch up on all the lyrics to Drake’s “Fireworks,” Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” featuring Drake, Rihanna’s “Work” featuring Drake, and Drake’s “Too Good” featuring Rihanna on Genius now.
