"Boys Tell Stories About the Man"

It's been a full year and the lead single to @Drake's upcoming third album finally dropped two weeks in advance of it's scheduled release on Grammy night. Not only did he release Started From the Bottom via Octobers Very Own, he provided free clean and dirty Hulkshare download links and Soundcloud player. To sum up it's buzzworthiness, the track has over 100,0000 streams and over 90,000 downloads in one day.

In addition, he released the statement below via OVO giving a little background on the genesis of the track...

My good friends,

It has truly been too long. I assume you're all keeping well and making the most of this year that has been given to us. Today is the day to begin sharing my newest work with you. This is the first single off of my upcoming album. I feel sometimes that people don't have enough information about my beginnings and therefore they make up a life story for me that isn't consistent with actual events. My family and my second family (consisting of the best friends anybody could ever have) all struggled and worked extremely hard to make all this happen. I did not buy my way into this spot and it was the furthest thing from easy to achieve. I am proud of every part of my past and I'm excited for this song to find a place in your life as well. I didn't feel I needed any interviews or radio or press to launch this song. It felt right to come back to the site that I started on and release it to the people that started here with me. Judging by this post, the tour that we've been planning, the conversations about new songs and album artwork...I think it's safe to say we're back together again. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

"You don't have to ask me how I'm doing...just listen to the music" - K.Samir

So on first listen, I'll admit I was really let down. And not let down in the way I was when I first heard Headlines and thought to myself, "This is going to get old quick because radio is going to play this every other song for the next six months." The frustration he lets loose on the track makes it clear that he wants to make sure everyone knows his whole story, rather than drawing their own conclusions based on the limited facts they know. I understand why he created the track and I'm not going to fault him for the message he wanted to push across beecause I would be frustrated too if people thought I was born with a silver spoon. That being said, I really disliked the track from the annoyingly repetitive hook to the over the top thuggish tone. The beat by @MikeZombie is alright, but the song made me fearful that Drake may be choosing a different lane for his third album.

If this is just a one time thing to vent, I can live with it as long as the rest of his album doesn't lose the storytelling and substance that his first two albums had. Whatever you do Drake, don't get too hung up on your image, keep doing your unique thing by singing, rapping, and making music that inspires people like me...#StartedFromTheBottom

New Single "Started From The Bottom" tinyurl.com/byqa7c8 OVO SOUND

— Drizzy (@Drake) February 2, 2013

Drake - Started From the Bottom (prod by Mike Zombie)