Drake‘s much anticipated sophomore album Take Care was scheduled for release this week (he is October’s Very Own, after all) and part of the set’s promotion included a coveted musical performance on Saturday Night Live tonight. Although the album has now been pushed back till November 15 the Young Money general is soldiering on with the show, promising surprises for SNL fans.

“One thing I do notice is not too many people bring atmosphere change [as SNL musical guests] so I really pushed to change the station into something different and I think I did a great job of that,” he told MTV News after show rehearsals on Thursday in New York. “I just hope that visually and sonically, it’s a superior performance.”

Earlier this week Drake dropped by Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 show to debut his latest single “Make Me Proud” featuring Nicki Minaj, which goes on-sale on iTunes after midnight tonight (Minajhas been hinted as the surprise guest of his performance tonight). The Toronto-born MC also expressed a desire to be involved in the show’s comedy skits (in addition to tonight’s host, Anna Faris) which would mark somewhat of a return to his Degrassi Highacting days.

“It’s crazy places that rap music can take you and doors that can open up off of the things that we’ve worked on all these years,” he says. “It’s so crazy being here today with the same band that I’ve been rolling with—all guys from Toronto. This is crazy, man, this is crazy. It’s an honor for sure.”

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