While filming a video for his song “Over” on Friday in Los Angeles, Drake stood in front of an all-white backdrop wearing a white tee and white sneakers. What does he do in the clip? He does him.

“This is my first video,” the Young Money franchise player said, sitting in his trailer. “I’ve shot a lot of videos before, but this is my first attempt to establish myself as Drake the artist. Shooting the other videos I’ve done has been great. I really don’t care what other people think about them, they were great experiences for me. I’ve learned a lot from them. Today, I’m shooting with somebody I really look up to and respect. I’m shooting with Anthony Mandler.”

Mandler, who has also made videos with Jay-Z and Rihanna, worked with Drake before on Mary J. Blige’s “The One.” “We talked colors, we talked epic, emotion-evoking visuals,” the 23-year-old Toronto native said of the collaborative “Over” video. “The story is actually interesting. The song is so aggressive, and it’s sort of a love story in the video. It has a lot to do with the album [Thank Me Later]. The album is about finding love, feeling ‘Have I sold my soul’ as far as ‘Will I ever be able to gain the trust of a woman? Will I only be able to be around the dark, evil women? Will I ever find that pure love?’ Those elements are in the video. I look strong, I feel great, my knee’s feeling great. I’m jumping around, doing all kinds of stuff.”

The song “Over” touches on Drake reaction to fame and stardom. ” ‘Over’ was definitely a choice of mine,” he said of releasing it as a single. “I’ve got a lot of great songs on the album. A lot of songs that sound familiar but are brand-new. I still got the same emotions of the songs you love, whether it be ‘Say Something’ or ‘Best I Ever Had’ or ‘Bedrock.’ For people who enjoy what I’ve done in the past, I’ve got a lot of songs to cater to them. But ‘Over’ was a song I did for myself.

“We took a trip to Jamaica, where I did a lot of work for my album,” he elaborated. “There was this calm before the storm, and ‘Over’ represented the storm to me. It’s the moment. I wanted to emerge at first from this album and just let people know ‘This is how I’m coming out in the public eye. I’m ready for anything.’ Then when you get the album, it’s like, ‘Oh, he’s still human. He’s still thinking the same way.’ I wanted people to understand I could have lost it. ‘Over’ could have been my entire album. Just ’cause that’s what this industry and game will do to you if you lose yourself.”

-MTV