[3] In November 2014, in an interview, Toronto Raptors basketball player DeMar DeRozan mentioned that Drake was intending to release a mixtape in January 2015.

[7] Due to its release via digital download outlets such as iTunes and Amazon Music as well as physically in vinyl and CD formats, contractually it is considered his fourth studio album for Cash Money Records.

[11] Drake hinted on his Instagram account of an alternate version of the project by DJ Candlestick and hosted by OG Ron C, titled If You're Choppin' This It's Too Late.

"[18] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph said, "Drake is amongst the most musically and lyrical progressive proponents of his chosen medium, bringing a level of educated artiness and psychological self-awareness to a genre too often reliant on big beats and braggadocio.

praised the release's production, writing that it "revels in the hazy drone of the 'Toronto Sound' that OVO's 40 and Boi-1da helped define, with offerings from up-and-comers like Brampton's WondaGurl and PRIME's Eric Dingus rounding it out.

"[27] Paul Lester of The Guardian said, "the former child TV star comes out fighting, amid machinegun fire, complaining about everyone from his peers to his family – but he convinces more as the original sad rapper.

"[21] Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times said, "The 17 tracks read like a fed-up farewell note penned in Drake's typically introspective, first-person style.

"[22] Kevin Ritchie of Now said, "Drake is increasingly astute at reframing hip-hop braggadocio about wealth and competition as a kind of existential crisis through telling--but now familiar--details about his life ("I got two mortgages $30 million in total") and subtle uses of melody and atmosphere.

"[25] Andrew Unterberger of Spin said, "Too Late definitely scans as a transitional work, a transfixing moment-in-time sort of recording that sees an unprecedentedly fortified Drake firing off paranoid and power-drunk thoughts from his basement, sounding even lonelier than he does than when he specifically talks about feeling lonely.

"[30] Alex Denney of NME said, "For all the music's cagey intelligence, Drake sounds like the kind of guy who comes sauntering out the traps in a 100m race and immediately breaks out into a victory lap, pausing only to remonstrate with hecklers.

There are definitely some songs that have commercial potential that I don't hate, and though I'd rather hear Drake rapping than singing, "Jungle" seems like the kind of track that with a few choice edits could get radio play.