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Drake is a distinct artist in that he both raps and sings, and this song is his cleverly-worded tribute to the R&B genre, with emphasis on how great songs are continuously remade and never die, and hence, are “unforgettable.”
Note the following nods to the “greatest” r&b artists that came before him:
The title of the song, “Unforgettable” is the same title of the late Nat King Cole’s greatest hit, which was later remade by his daughter, Natalie Cole.
In addition, sampled as the background vocals on this track is the late R&B songstress Aaliyah’s 1994 rendition of The Isley Brother’s 1976 (At Your Best) You Are Love.
Other less-apparent allusions include:
“do I ever cross your mind” — the most memorable line of Brian McKnight’s “Anytime”;
“Chili" — shout out to the member of girl group TLC.
While on the surface the song may about a break-up/rise to fame (standard rap fare these days), on a deeper level Drake is expressing his aspirations to live forever as an artist — to be one of the “greatest” — akin to how certain legendary songs will never lack/lose an audience. E.g., he’s “looking looking forward to the memories of right now” (i.e. he hopes his songs will be remade in the future, and what is now will become “memories”); “never forgetting from where came” (i.e. paying tribute to the past, the original art) “And no matter where headed promise to stay the same” (i.e. even if the form is changed by genre/artist/etc, his art will always retain the same spirit).
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