A Guide to Drake's "Nothing Was The Same" Samples

On Tuesday, Drake's latest album, Nothing Was The Same will finally hit stores. Although it isn't available for purchase yet, it leaked last week, along with its credits. When we read through the credits, we learned that the production was primarily handled by Noah "40" Shebib, just like all of Drake's projects. However, Drake and 40 still enlisted a number of other producers including Boi-1da, Mike Zombie, Majid Jordan, Nineteen85, Detail, Key Wane, Hudson Mohawke, and Jake One. But what we really wanted to know about were the samples. 

We knew from Drake's July GQ cover story that he sampled Whitney Houston and Curtis Mayfield on "Tuscan Leather," but there's a number of other samples that give some insight to what inspired Drake and his producers in the studio. Canadian pianist Chilly Gonzales—who previously worked with Drake on songs like "Marvin's Room"—contributed to the Jhené Aiko featured "From Time," while Argentinian musician and producer Bruno Sanfilippo is sampled on "Started From The Bottom." The album's samples display Drake's ability to take inspirations as diverse as Whitney Houston and Wu-Tang Clan, and create his own take on the classics. Like he said, he does want this album to be played at weddings one day. 

Here is A Guide to Drake's "Nothing Was The Same" Samples.

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Producer: Noah "40" Shebib

Background Vocals: Cappadonna

Instruments: Noah "40" Shebib, Adrian "X" Ecceslston

Sample 1: Whitney Houston "I Have Nothing"Sample 2: Curtis Mayfield "When Seasons Change (Live)" (57:33)

We knew about the song "Tuscan Leather" from GQ's cover story on Drake. The song samples Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" and Curtis Mayfield at a 1987 concert in Montreux saying "Having the same fears, shedding similar tears, and of course dying in so many years, it don't mean that we can't have a good life" on the outro to the song. The song also has interpolations from Steady B's "Serious." 

Producer: Mike Zombie, Noah "40" Shebib

Instruments: Mike Zombie, Noah "40" Shebib

Sample:  Bruno Sanfilippo "Ambessence Piano & Drones"

Those dissonant piano chords that kick off "Started From The Bottom" are a sample of Argentinian composer and musician Bruno Sanfilippo's melody on "Ambessence Piano & Drones" part one.

Producer: Noah "40" Shebib

Instruments: Noah "40" Shebib

Sample 1: Zodiac "Loss Config" 
Sample 2: Wu-Tang Clan "It's Yourz" 

Toronto producer Jeremy "Zodiac" Rose, who used to make beats for The Weeknd, has a beat called "Loss Config." which is sampled on "Wu-Tang Forever" along with Wu's classic song, "It's Yourz." 

Producer: Boi-1da

Contains: Timbaland on the hook

Sample 1: Wu-Tang Clan "C.R.E.A.M" 
Sample 2: Ellie Goulding "Don't Say A Word"
Sample 3:  Jimmy Smith "Jimmy Smith Rap"

Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." is very obviously sampled on "Pound Cake" where the chorus is chopped throughout the song. The eerie female vocals are courtesy of Ellie Goulding from "Don't Say a Word." However, you might recognize her vocals from one of the summer's bigger hits, Calvin Harris's "I Need Your Love." Meanwhile, the intro speech is jazz musician Jimmy Smith's "Jimmy Smith Rap."

Producer: Key Wane, additional production by Noah "40" Shebib

Instruments: Dwane Weir

Sample 1: Billie Holiday "My Man"
Sample 2: "My Man" performed by Abbey Lincoln

"My Man" is sampled throughout "All Me" and sounds almost like a Gregorian chant in the background. The beginning of the song kicks off with an excerpt from the movie Funny People with Aziz Ansari. A portion of Big Sean's verse is an interpolation of Ice-T's "99 Problems," similar to what Jay did on his "99 Problems" song, too. Additionally, the intro to the second beat on the song uses the same sound of a bomb that kicks off Kardinal Offishall's "Ol' Time Killin'."