Started From the Bottom

About this song

Drake released the track as the lead single from his album Nothing Was the Same, first sharing it on his website a week before the planned Grammy date. The song drew debate over how low the "bottom" really was for Drake, and he defended it in a June 2013 GQ interview. The music video, released in February 2013, shows him as a drugstore worker who is promoted to night manager, and it was widely praised by critics and commercially successful.

What it's about

The song is a come-up story about rising from humble beginnings, embracing the underdog narrative. Drake's point is that everyone has a bottom, and that his own start was not the gangster image people expected.

Fun facts

• Samples “Who U Wit? by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz”.
• Sampled in 38 other songs, like “The Bottom by OT the Real, Statik Selektah & Merkules”.
• Covered 3 times, including “Started From The Bottom (Remix) by Mike Posner (Ft. Asher Roth, Chuck Inglish, King Chip & Travis Mills)”.
• Written by 40, Drake and Mike Zombie.
• Produced by 40 and Mike Zombie.