The most anticipated rap album of the year is here.

Hip-hop artist Drake released his widely anticipated third studio album titled “Nothing Was The Same” (NWTS) on Sept. 24.

This album caps off a summer where Jay-Z and Kanye West released highly anticipated albums that had hit singles being played on all the local popular radio stations. However, many feel that “NWTS” will be the most successful of the trio among fans and critics.

“I’ve been looking forward to this album all summer and from what I’ve heard so far it is terrific. Hopefully it can live up to the high expectations that people have given this album,” said junior Pasquale Giannini.

Believe the hype because “NWTS” has not disappointed and the 13 songs on the album have cemented Drake, 26, as one of the best recording hip-hop artists in the industry today. The fact that his album is being considered to be on the same level or even surpassing products released by Kanye West and the legendary Jay-Z is an accomplishment in itself.

The album concentrates on the message of who Drake was before his fame, and who he is becoming now that his fame continues to increase. This is exhibited in the album’s first single “Started From The Bottom.” The single is Drake’s own anthem of how he rose from the bottom of society to the top of the hip-hop world.

The major element that separates Drake from all the other recording artists of hip-hop is how instead of talking about using drugs or his sexual encounters with women he incorporates his emotions into his songs about love or his challenging rise to fame and how it has affected his personal life.

There are two songs in particular that show these emotions, “From Time” feat. Jhene Alko and “Too Much.”

In “From Time,” Drake talks about a past love that never came to fruition and his frustration with not being with those past lovers that he names in the song. It is a powerful song with lyrical flow that shows the separation that Drake has with the rest of his competition.

In “Too Much” Drake raps about how fame has broken the bond he once had with his family. Drake gives us an example of this tension in the song when he says: “All my family from the M-Town that I’ve been ‘round, started treating me like I’m “him” now, like we don’t know each other, we ain’t grow together, we just friends now.” This song without question is one of the most powerful songs on the album.

The final song on the album is “Pound Cake” featuring the one and only Jay-Z. This is a seemingly perfect ending to this album, which possibly can propel Drake into the history books as one of hip-hop’s greatest artists.

It was in Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3” where Drake was put on the national stage as a featured artist in Jay-Z’s song “Off That.” Fast-forward three years and Drake is battling his mentor for hip-hop supremacy over this generation in “Pound Cake.” While Jay-Z flexes his muscles in the song, Drake closes the album by proclaiming he is the best of this generation and getting better.

After hearing this album, it is hard to argue against that statement.