Drake and 21 Savage almost didn’t release Her Loss last week.

In the wake of Takeoff’s tragic death, 21 reveals that they considered pushing back their joint project from its Nov. 4 date. However, they ultimately decided against the delay because they felt they could bring some joy amid all the sadness.

“It was so much going on, just so much sad, negative energy that maybe this will give motherfu**ers a smile, like a lift up, something to look forward to type shit,” 21 told Akademiks during his “Off the Record” podcast.

Just days earlier, Takeoff was killed during a shooting outside a Houston bowling alley. 21 felt that he and Drake could use their music to uplift fans.

“What’s that gonna do for real? Just keep motherfu**ers in this mind state for a little longer versus just trying to move forward type shit.”

21 also opened up about Takeoff’s death, revealing that the tragedy hit him hard. “It’s the worst one,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s ’cause I know him more than I know them, but it’s like, this one of the ones where it’s like, ‘Damn, him.’ Ni**as say that every time, anytime anybody die, ni**as be like, ‘Damn, him.’ But he really one of the ones, like, ‘Damn, what the f**k?'”

He also praised Takeoff’s character. “Never gonna see him argue. If he fighting, he fighting to help his brothers,” he said. “This the worst one that I seen in my life where it’s like a ni**a didn’t deserve that shit. He didn’t deserve that shit.”

While they didn’t delay Her Loss, Drake has decided to postpone his show at New York City’s Apollo Theater out of respect for Takeoff, whose public memorial will take place Friday at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.

Her Loss is expected to debut at No. 1 on next week’s charts with around 400,000 copies.