Nothing Was the Same

Drake wanted a signature painting for Nothing Was the Same, something that did not look like a typical hip-hop cover. He turned to Kadir Nelson, a Southern California artist who had painted the cover of Michael Jackson's posthumous album Michael. Nelson made several sketches, the two chose one together, and Nelson listened to Drake's music in the studio as he worked.

The result came in two versions, sold side by side so buyers could choose. Both are oil paintings of Drake in profile against a cloudy blue sky. One shows him as a child with an afro comb in his hair, the other as an adult wearing a gold chain. Drake said the artwork captured "my most clear, concise thoughts from now" alongside his best memory of his younger self.

Critics compared the childhood version to the covers of Illmatic, Ready to Die and Tha Carter III, and Complex ranked it the fourth-best cover of 2013. Nelson gave Drake a full-size painting of the cover. The album was released on 24 September 2013. Donald Hearn and Isa Saalabi handled the art direction and design around Nelson's paintings.