Songs mean something different to every listener; however, here is Drake's explanation....
Drake wrote the bulk of the lyrics after Trey Songz came up with the hook. In an interview with Complex Blog, Drake explains: "It's basically a story. It starts in January 2008 when I was kinda confused like, What am I really doing? I gave up acting all together to really do this music thing, and I was really truly confused. It's way different than acting, there aren't people to depend on, you really have to build your own thing basically from the ground up, you know, so in January not only was I confused about my career, I was also in a very destructive sort of us exhausting relationship with a female and it was just a bad headspace for me to be in. So that's where the tape starts. I just felt that nothing was ever good enough, and she was always searching for more excitement and then we move into “Successful.” I say at the end of the song, “There are so many things I want to say but I just don't know how to say it to you.” I know exactly what I want to say, you know, I just want to be successful, but I don't know if I can do it with you and then it goes into “Let's Call It Off,” which is the breakup."
Songz told MTV News about his involvement in the song "Drake told me back in January he was gonna do another mixtape. At first, he was calling me about interludes and trying to segue his singing into his rapping. That didn't work out, because we couldn't come to terms about what records I was going to be on. Then he sent me this track one night. I was in the studio when he sent it. He said, 'Let me know what you think about it.' It was simplistic, but it knocks. It's eerie, it's dark. The first thing I laid...
Songz told MTV News about his involvement in the song "Drake told me back in January he was gonna do another mixtape. At first, he was calling me about interludes and trying to segue his singing into his rapping. That didn't work out, because we couldn't come to terms about what records I was going to be on. Then he sent me this track one night. I was in the studio when he sent it. He said, 'Let me know what you think about it.' It was simplistic, but it knocks. It's eerie, it's dark. The first thing I laid down was the gothic, reverb-driven harmony: 'arrrgh, arrrgh, arrrgh.' I couldn't think of what I wanted to hear on it, so I did a whole bunch of harmonies."
Songz then came up with the hook: He remembered: "The first thing that came to mind was 'I want the money, money and the cars/ Cars and the clothes/ The ho's/ I suppose I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful.' When I'm saying all that, conceptually for me, the deepest part of the record was when I say, 'I suppose.' I supposed that's what success is about. That's what [we're] led to believe."
Drake recalled: "I opened it up in my e-mail, and I heard this hook, and it was so powerful to me, because he says all these things: 'I want the money, money and the cars.' And it's like, it's almost like it made me feel like it may not be right what I want, you know? All these things, it's like it made me feel young. It kind of made me feel ignorant to the game. But it was an exciting record even though the tempo is slow. That's what I want. That's what I've been told is success: 'The money, the cars, the clothes and the ho's. I suppose.' The 'I suppose' moment in there is like, it's almost like you're doubting yourself for a second. But at the end of the day, I just want to be successful. So that's what the record meant to me."
Drake explained to MTV News the lyric, "My mother tried to run away from home, but I left something in the car, so I caught her in the driveway. And she cried to me, so I cried too/ And my stomach was soaking wet, she's only 5'2." He said: "When I was going through the creative process for So Far Gone, I was actually at a pretty dark place in my life. It was a frustrating time for my family, because my grandmother – who is now in her mid- to late 90s – was just losing it. It was hard for my mother to watch. And it was just, it was really at a point where it was like, 'Is this rap thing going to work?' Like, 'Is this my choice? Is this what I am committing to?' Money was an issue. Degrassi [which Drake starred on as a teen] had ended years ago, and we were just all kind of trying to figure stuff out.
So my mother was going through a rough time. And yeah, man, one night she just broke down and tried to actually run away from the house, tried to leave it all behind. It was just a lot going on, and she never would have really left. She would've always come back, but it was just a frustrating moment for her. So I had forgot something in my car, and I came outside and I saw bags sitting by her car. I saw her out there, and she just started crying right away when she saw me. Anyway, I don't wanna get too emotional, but I had to hug her. My father doesn't stay with us, so I had to be security for her and just let her know that everything is going to be all right."
Songs mean something different to every listener; however, here is Drake's explanation....
Drake wrote the bulk of the lyrics after Trey Songz came up with the hook. In an interview with Complex Blog, Drake explains: "It's basically a story. It starts in January 2008 when I was kinda confused like, What am I really doing? I gave up acting all together to really do this music thing, and I was really truly confused. It's way different than acting, there aren't people to depend on, you really have to build your own thing basically from the ground up, you know, so in January not only was I confused about my career, I was also in a very destructive sort of us exhausting relationship with a female and it was just a bad headspace for me to be in. So that's where the tape starts. I just felt that nothing was ever good enough, and she was always searching for more excitement and then we move into “Successful.” I say at the end of the song, “There are so many things I want to say but I just don't know how to say it to you.” I know exactly what I want to say, you know, I just want to be successful, but I don't know if I can do it with you and then it goes into “Let's Call It Off,” which is the breakup."
Songz told MTV News about his involvement in the song "Drake told me back in January he was gonna do another mixtape. At first, he was calling me about interludes and trying to segue his singing into his rapping. That didn't work out, because we couldn't come to terms about what records I was going to be on. Then he sent me this track one night. I was in the studio when he sent it. He said, 'Let me know what you think about it.' It was simplistic, but it knocks. It's eerie, it's dark. The first thing I laid...
Songz told MTV News about his involvement in the song "Drake told me back in January he was gonna do another mixtape. At first, he was calling me about interludes and trying to segue his singing into his rapping. That didn't work out, because we couldn't come to terms about what records I was going to be on. Then he sent me this track one night. I was in the studio when he sent it. He said, 'Let me know what you think about it.' It was simplistic, but it knocks. It's eerie, it's dark. The first thing I laid down was the gothic, reverb-driven harmony: 'arrrgh, arrrgh, arrrgh.' I couldn't think of what I wanted to hear on it, so I did a whole bunch of harmonies."
Songz then came up with the hook: He remembered: "The first thing that came to mind was 'I want the money, money and the cars/ Cars and the clothes/ The ho's/ I suppose I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful.' When I'm saying all that, conceptually for me, the deepest part of the record was when I say, 'I suppose.' I supposed that's what success is about. That's what [we're] led to believe."
Drake recalled: "I opened it up in my e-mail, and I heard this hook, and it was so powerful to me, because he says all these things: 'I want the money, money and the cars.' And it's like, it's almost like it made me feel like it may not be right what I want, you know? All these things, it's like it made me feel young. It kind of made me feel ignorant to the game. But it was an exciting record even though the tempo is slow. That's what I want. That's what I've been told is success: 'The money, the cars, the clothes and the ho's. I suppose.' The 'I suppose' moment in there is like, it's almost like you're doubting yourself for a second. But at the end of the day, I just want to be successful. So that's what the record meant to me."
Drake explained to MTV News the lyric, "My mother tried to run away from home, but I left something in the car, so I caught her in the driveway. And she cried to me, so I cried too/ And my stomach was soaking wet, she's only 5'2." He said: "When I was going through the creative process for So Far Gone, I was actually at a pretty dark place in my life. It was a frustrating time for my family, because my grandmother – who is now in her mid- to late 90s – was just losing it. It was hard for my mother to watch. And it was just, it was really at a point where it was like, 'Is this rap thing going to work?' Like, 'Is this my choice? Is this what I am committing to?' Money was an issue. Degrassi [which Drake starred on as a teen] had ended years ago, and we were just all kind of trying to figure stuff out. So my mother was going through a rough time. And yeah, man, one night she just broke down and tried to actually run away from the house, tried to leave it all behind. It was just a lot going on, and she never would have really left. She would've always come back, but it was just a frustrating moment for her. So I had forgot something in my car, and I came outside and I saw bags sitting by her car. I saw her out there, and she just started crying right away when she saw me. Anyway, I don't wanna get too emotional, but I had to hug her. My father doesn't stay with us, so I had to be security for her and just let her know that everything is going to be all right."