Over the years, Drake and 21 Savage have proved to be an unstoppable duo with previous collaborations : 'Sneakin' (2016), “ISSA” (leaked 2017), 'Mr Right Now” (2020) and 'Knife Talk' (2021). Following their most recent track 'Jimmy Cooks' going #1 and being one of the biggest bangers of the year, it was the perfect time in both of their careers to come together for a joint studio album. On October 21, Drake announced that the “Jimmy Cooks” video will be releasing on 21’s 30th birthday - the following day. The visuals were interrupted with bold text announcing the album between the two and showing an original scheduled release date of October 28th 2022 just in time for Halloween weekend. The album was pushed back by one week due to OVO40 contracting covid-19 during the album’s mixing and mastering process. The album released on the moved date of November 4 with the tracklist being shown the night before.
With Her Loss we see a genius and super cool roll out. Starting from November 1st Drake and 21 went on a joint fake press run to promote the album, spoofing common music promotion techniques. It began with a Vogue magazine where the duo starred on the cover, with additional graffiti covered spreads, as well as fake ads with photoshopped images. This magazine was limited only being handed out by street teams to those lucky enough to grab one. Other online spoofs included an introduction for a ‘NPR Tiny Desk Concert’ , a deepfake interview on ‘The Howard Stern Show’ and ‘VOGUE Presents IN THE BAG with 21 Savage’. For music videos the duo also imitated a ‘ColorsxStudios’ performance for the song 'Privileged Rappers' and performed the track 'On BS' in the style of ‘Saturday Night Live’ which included a guest cameo from Michael B.Jordan. The intro track “Rich Flex” was paired with a 'Her Loss Recap' video shot on VHS showing the lifestyle behind the scenes of making the project. In addition, the tracks 'Jumbotron Shit Poppin' and 'Spin Bout U' went on to receive more high budget music videos.
From Drake’s recent releases which received little to no promo, this was a creative way of marketing the album and inciting fans to generate hype. Also serving as a flex that Drake and 21 don’t need to do all these traditional tactics to get album sales.
The cover art features model Quiana Yasuka “Suki Baby” who is also a 3D artist and adult dancer. The then three-year old photograph was taken by Paris Aden, and was discovered by Lil Yachty who chose the cover for the album describing the image as: “so raw, so authentic ,not fabricating”.
Some call Yachty the mastermind behind “Her Loss”. With Boat being heavily involved in the process, receiving writing and production credits on tracks ‘Major Distribution’, ‘BackOutsideBoyz’, ‘Privileged Rappers’, ‘Circo Loco’ ‘Pussy & Millions’ and ‘Jumbotron Shit Poppin’. Following the release of Her Loss, Drake made sure to shoutout Yachty for his contributions on his Instagram story, writing, “Where would I be without our friendship @lilyachty I love ya kid thank you for your time, your incredible talent and your adlib game.”
The use of vibrant colour palettes for the album front and back artwork give the music a different feel in contrast to the promotional shots which were much less saturated. Both of these styles suit the joint trap album as they create a real raw atmosphere and in your face feeling that the project gives off.
The prominent graffiti imagery was designed by Ben Dorado who handled the overall art direction for this project. He was also behind the artwork and text for “Honestly, Nervemind” and “Dark Lane Demo Tapes”.