Drake committed to Views From the 6 world-building early on, across multiple platforms. His perpetually forthcoming fourth studio album has become more of an ongoing perspective than a prospective project, expanding into brand propaganda for the OVO boss’s alternate Toronto in its extended lifespan.

VIEWS was first announced in August 2014, an era that now seems so distant in the context of Drake news. There was a “retail mixtape,” an Apple Music deal, ghostwriting allegations, several diss songs, a second “retail mixtape” with Future, “Hotline Bling” mania, Adele mania derailing “Hotline Bling” mania and keeping Drake from his first No. 1 song, and finally, Drake getting a No. 1 as Rihanna’s lapdog.

It’s been hard to keep track of every tease, every track, every tweet that’s happened between then and now, especially since it has evolved from an album rollout into a full-fledged belief system of Drake-isms. And so, this is a comprehensive VIEWS timeline, documenting all of the little moments that led us to the album’s release later this week. (Note: We originally published this timeline in March and have since updated it to reflect all changes, up to the April 28th release of VIEWS, the album formerly known as Views From the 6.)

2014

06-01-14__:__ Drake hints that his new album will arrive the following spring on new songs “0 to 100 / The Catch Up”: “We already have Spring 2015 poppin’ / PND droppin’ … not to mention, me droppin’.” __

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07-15-14: Billboard reveals Drake’s fourth studio album will be called Views From the 6. “The 6” is apparently a nickname for Toronto, coined by rapper Jimmy Johnson.

08-06-14__:__ Drake explains the album title after some confusion surrounding Rihanna at OVO Fest.

08-24-14: A track titled “Views From the 6” leaks, with lyrics seemingly about Rihanna.

10-25-14: Drake releases three new songs, “How Bout Now,” “Heat of the Moment,” and “6 God,”which — one would have assumed at the time — were linked to Views. However, two of the songs, “How Bout Now” and “6 God,” end up on If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. The third, “Heat of the Moment,” is still unaccounted for.

2015

01-27-15: Canadian rapper and OVO affiliate P. Reign claims he’s heard a Drake mixtape.

02-12-15: Drake postpones all things Views From the 6 in favor of an online surprise release for said mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. The mixtape continues Drake’s ongoing Toronto rebrand with songs like “6 God,” “6 Man,” and “You & the 6,” plus the “Know Yourself” tagline, “I was running through the 6 with my woes.” All serve as free Views advertising.

04-16-15: In a profile for the (now defunct) fashion blog Four Pins, Drake reveals that he only has two songs finished for Views that he likes: “a collaboration with Beyoncé that he recorded a while ago” and “a song that he expects to inspire a paradigm shift.”

05-21-15: A song with Beyoncé, “Can I,” (perhaps the one teased above) leaks online.

07-25-15: Drake releases “Charged Up” on his OVO Sound Radio show in response to Meek Mill’s ghostwriting allegations. The show also premieres “Hotline Bling,” then tagged “Cha Cha” Remix.