Laugh Now Cry Later

"Laugh Now Cry Later" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake featuring American rapper Lil Durk. It was released through Republic Records and OVO Sound as a single on August 14, 2020. The two artists wrote the song alongside producers Cardo, Rogét Chahayed, G. Ry, and Yung Exclusive. It was originally the intended lead single from Drake's sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy (2021). Commercially, the song debuted at number one in Drake's native Canada on the Canadian Hot 100 and debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song received nominations for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Background On August 12, 2020, Drake posted a clip of himself and another person riding jet skis at night on his social media. The post was accompanied by the caption "TMRW MIDNIGHT 🤍". Upon release, it turned out that the song's music video also entailed an upcoming collaboration between Drake and Nike, Inc. Critical reception Jeremy D. Larson of Pitchfork praised Drake's delivery, calling the song "one of the lightest and breeziest Drake songs to come out in a while". He further described his presence as "effortlessly cool and simple", while "Lil Durk shows up as a perfect counterpart". Complex thought the song was "a vibe, but not an obvious hit record", neither a "by-the-numbers pop radio play or a hard-hitting club record". According to Charles Holmes at Rolling Stone, the song "sounds like Drake featuring Drake", further explaining that the song "is the embodiment of what happens when you surround real Drake with a room full of past Drakes, like a tortured Canadian reboot of Being John Malkovich". Lil Wayne released a version of the song on his No Ceilings 3 mixtape called Something Different which also had a music video.