| Over | |
 | |
| Single by Drake | |
| From the album Thank Me Later | |
| Released | March 8, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Format | Digital download |
| Genre | Hip hop |
| Length: | 3:53 |
| Label | Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Motown |
| Writers | Aubrey Graham, Matthew Samuels, Noah Shebib, Nick Brongers |
| Producers | Boi-1da, Al-Khaaliq (co) |
"Over" is a song by Canadian recording artist Drake from his debut album Thank Me Later. The song serves as the lead single of the album. It was written by Aubrey Graham, Matthew Samuels, Noah Shebib, and Nick Brongers, and it was produced by Boi-1da, and Al-Khaaliq. The song was released for digital download on March 8, 2010. A music video was filmed on March 12, 2010, and premiered on VEVO on April 12, 2010.
Music video[]
The video was shot on March 12, 2010 in Los Angeles, directed by Anthony Mandler. Mandler previously worked with Drake on the video for his collaboration with Mary J. Blige, "The One". It premiered on VEVO on April 12, 2010. In an exclusive with Rap-Up, when asked about how the connection came about, Mandler said, "I’m a big fan of Drake and I was really excited when he called me about doing it, and really put a lot into making it special and capturing what I think is an image he hasn’t had yet. Here’s a guy whose lyrical presence does not equal his visual presence yet, by any means. That’s something that he and I spoke a lot about. He felt strongly that nobody had really captured him, and some of the videos that had been done were less iconic than he would like to be represented as." On Drake and the song he said, "It’s so refreshing that he’s confident, but he’s not arrogant. I think that dimensionality is so important in a genre that is very one note with words like “bravado” and “swagger” and “arrogance” and “promiscuity.” Here’s a guy that’s finally putting a duality to the words and saying, “Yeah, I have all that and I do all that, but I’m also somebody that’s asking, is that what I should be doing with my life?" When asked of the concept of the "Over" video, Mandler said that it was something that would not be expected. Mandler explained, "Drake and I were very conscious about trying to push the limits and trying to push things forward. He came to me because he wanted to throw away the conventions of a medium, and take chances and be daring and take certain themes that are relevant to him and try to visualize them in not the obvious way". In an interview with MTV News on the set of the video shoot, Drake said, "I've shot a lot of videos before, but this is my first attempt to establish myself as Drake the artist." Confronting the criticism of his past videos, notably the one for "Best I Ever Had", Drake said, "I really don't care what other people think about them, they were great experiences for me. I've learned a lot from them", and he explained that he was working on that day with Mandler, someone he respects and looks up to. On the video, Drake said, "We talked colors, we talked epic, emotion-evoking visuals." He called the story of the video interesting and the song tells "sort of a love story". He explained that the video has a lot to do with his debut album, stating "The album is about finding love, feeling 'Have I sold my soul' as far as 'Will I ever be able to gain the trust of a woman? Will I only be able to be around the dark, evil women? Will I ever find that pure love?' Those elements are in the video." In a separate interview on his Away From Home Tour, with MTV News, Drake said the video takes the song to "another place". He said it offers up a different look to the song. He explained, "This video is what I was really thinking about. The song is like a bad dream — but it's not a bad dream, it's not a terrible dream. It's a little evil. The video really reflects that. It's a struggle between the purities of my past life and what this new life has to offer. Even in the video, you see me looking back and forth between the two and deciding. At the end of the video I don't necessarily make a decision, but when you get the album, you'll see what choice I make. British singer Rita Ora makes cameo in the music video.