So Is Drake Dropping A Mixtape Or What?

Hold on to your Internet hats, you guys, because we could be looking at more new music from Drake even sooner than we thought. While I was sitting here patiently waiting for Views From The 6 to hit the airwaves, it turns out that If You're Reading This It's Too Late isn't the only surprise mixtape that Drake has been working on in the shadows. In fact, there's a rumor going around that Drake and Future are dropping a mixtape this week — and this rumor is endorsed, shockingly enough, by actor Ryan Phillippe. The actor, who was born on September 10, announced on Instagram that Drake and Future would be releasing this surprise album for his birthday at midnight. Bustle reached out to Drake for comment, but has yet to receive a response. With midnight on Friday having come and gone, the Internet is in a state of heavy anticipation warring with disappointment. Dare we dream that this tape exists? That this album cover is real? That this surprise is coming? Or should we give up the dream?

At this point, I'm not sure what to believe. On the one hand, 12 a.m. on Friday has passed in both Eastern and Pacific Time, which means that this mixtape, if it's coming, is past due. On the other hand, perhaps the "midnight" in question was not midnight on Sept. 11 — which might be considered in bad taste — but instead midnight on Sept. 12 — which means we still have a long wait ahead of us for this mixtape. I mean, we have an album cover that comes from Phillippe rather than just from some random person on the Internet. Surely that has to mean something, this far away from April Fools'?

On the other hand, why on earth would Ryan Phillippe know about Drake's surprise mixtape before we did? Do he and Drake even know each other? Do he and Future know each other? Sure, we know that Phillippe and Drake have met before, in 2010, around the same that that the actor blew our mind by revealing himself to be a hip-hop aficionado with an interest in producing an artist one day. But meeting once and going to Drake concerts, and having the inside scoop on Drake's surprise music, are two completely different things. I've met lots of people that I'm not on a joking birthday present level of association with, you know? And it's not like Fall Out Boy tells me when they're dropping a surprise album just because I've been to tons of their concerts. This just doesn't make any sense.

And yet I refuse to give up hope because I want new Drake music that badly. I mean, really, If You're Reading This It's Too Late was as amazing as you would expect a Drake album to be, but there is no such thing as there being "too much Drake music." That's like saying there are too many cupcakes or, better yet, like saying you're getting too much fresh air. I want this rumor to be true because I want to throw up my praise hands and honor Drake the way he is meant to be honored as one of the greatest artists of my generation. But, if the rumor is true, when is this mixtape coming out? When am I getting this new music? Why is Drake doing this to me?

Better yet, why is Drake doing this to us? Because I am far from the only fan who is wondering whether or not to maintain my hope that there's a mixtape coming our way.

At this point, all we can really do is wait, hope, and keep one ear pressed to the ground for even the merest whisper that the mixtape is online somewhere. When that happens, I have no doubt that Drake and Future fans will break the Internet to get their hands on it. Sorry, Kim K.