Drake posted a video to his Instagram account on November 22nd and everybody had questions. It was a mysterious Toronto backdrop and the Nike logo, and fans had lots of thoughts. Drake was teasing his upcoming collection with Nike, which is set to release on December 18th. On December 2nd, the collection was revealed as NOCTA, which is a Nike sublabel that serves as “a nod to the artist’s nocturnal creatives process.” Along with the news of the release, Drake also wrote an essay that talked about how this collection is a full-circle moment for him. He wrote:

“This moment is full circle for me. I mean, growing up Nike was everything. It felt like every shoe I wanted, every athlete I liked, everything I owned was Nike. It didn’t mean anything unless it had a Swoosh. I remember watching all these athletes repping Nike — each doing the unthinkable — and how inspiring it was. I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way they had athletes. I thought about how crazy it would have been and what it would have meant for an artist to have a flagship Nike deal. NOCTA is a realization of all these thoughts and everything I had hoped for — from the culture it’s rooted in to the product and, most important, to the partnership and scale that allows me to share it with the world. NOCTA is about creating something for people on the move. People who want functional, comfortable fits that are adaptable from one environment to the next.

But as much as it’s about what we make, it’s also about a mindset: an unforgiving drive, a relentlessness. Characterized by the type who are on the road all day, all night — the grinders, the hard workers — trying to accomplish their goals and taking no short cuts. This opportunity is something that I’ve been waiting on for a really long time. To be associated with the highest level possible — that was always my goal. We put in a lot of hard work, a lot of man and woman hours, during the last two years. To see it all coming to fruition starts an exciting new chapter in my life.”

Getty Images/Entertainment/Kevin Winter

In a press release, Drake reflected on what NOCTA means to him and how it’s more than a collection. “NOCTA is about creating something for people on the move. People who want functional, comfortable fits that are adaptable from one environment to the next,” he wrote. “It’s also about a mindset: an unforgiving drive, a relentlessness. Characterized by the type who are on the road all day, all night — the grinders, the hard workers — trying to accomplish their goals and taking no shortcuts . . . With NOCTA, we were trying to make the hardest jacket, the hardest tracksuit, the hardest gloves. Just the best of that world.”