If You're Reading This It's Too Late is the fourth mixtape by Canadian recording artist Drake. It was released through the iTunes Store without prior announcement on February 13, 2015 by OVO Sound, Aspire Music Group, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. It is considered his 4th studio album although Drake himself considers the project a mixtape.
If You're Reading This It's Too Late had positive reviews from Music critics for its perceived display of lyrical growth and stellar production. The mixtape debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with three-day sales of 495,000 copies and 40,000 online streaming credits, and topped his native Canadian Albums Chart after moving 37,000 units upon the conclusion of the tracking week.
In July 2014, Drake announced that the name of his fourth studio album would be Views from the 6, however he had not yet begun to record it. In an interview in November 2014, Toronto Raptors basketball player DeMar DeRozan mentioned that Drake intends to release a mixtape in January 2015. In the morning of February 12, 2015, Drake released a short film titled Jungle. There were snippets of the songs "Know Yourself" and "Jungle" in the video hinting that Drake would be releasing new music.
In an interview with HipHopDX, DatPiff founder Kyle Reilly revealed that If You're Reading This It's Too Late was intended to be released for free download on DatPiff and hosted by DJ Drama until Cash Money Records intervened. Although recognized as a mixtape by OVO Sound, due to being released through iTunes, by copyright it is considered his fourth studio album for Cash Money records and as such, is acknowledged as an album by Cash Money. Simultaneously, Young Money recognizes it as Drake's second EP, while Republic has yet to acknowledge it as an official release under their label. Since mixtapes are usually free, some websites have labeled the release a "commercial mixtape," a mixtape given different format distinctions for-profit by separate labels. Later, Drake clarified that If You're Reading This It's Too Late is a mixtape.