 Big Boi | Kid Cudi  |
I been doin’ this since I was about 13. Degrassi is bigger than what I’m doing right now, it really is. It’s bigger than any Drake, Cudi, Wale..
Who doesn’t know who Drake is? Since dropping his uber-successful emo-hop mixtape So Far Gone, last February, Aubrey “Drake” Graham, 22, has been at the top of every label’s wish list. VIBE caught up with Toronto’s favorite rapper turned singer, who revealed how he picks singles, how acting prepared him for the rap game, and why his upcoming debut, Thank Me Later, will top his last mixtape.
VIBE: How do you approach making an album as opposed to a mixtape?
Drake: It’s like putting a puzzle together. I never make a song and then that night be like, Oh yeah, this is gonna be my single. You got to let people decide that for you. Not necessarily one or two people in a room, but I mean songs can pick up that you would never think would pick up. Like Andre 3000 just shot a video for “Prototype,” you know what I mean? You never know. Anything can be something that people want to listen to. As far as knowing ahead of time, there’s definitely records that are going to give you a special feeling. There are records that are undeniable.
Do you stress over picking potential singles?
You know on this mixtape that I put out, as far as singles, I had a song on there called “Best I Ever Had.” And it’s just the song that everyone loves, you know, unanimously. Everyone wants to sing it. I just happened to get the right chorus that people just don’t forget. When we were making it, we listened back to it and we were like, “Yeah, this is gonna be something special,” just as far as people picking up on that song and really knowing all the words to the hook and stuff like that. I used to obsess about that. That’s how you can take five, six years to make an album, you know?
You’re working with Kanye West on this album. Will he be a heavy influence?
What ’Ye thinks is right may not be the right thing either, you know, ’cause that’s someone completely different. It might be the right thing for him. You have to be able to form your own opinions because you never know what motives someone else is thinking with. You never know Are they thinking of themselves as an artist? Do they even want you to sound hot? You can’t ever let someone else decide for you.
But as far as input I’m looking forward to ‘Ye coming in and kind of overseeing things and maybe adding something or taking something away or just giving me an opinion that make me say, “Oh shit, I didn’t think of that.”
Who are some other people you’d like to bring on board?
Andre 3000, that’s one of my idols. Kanye and Andre are really my idols and the other rapper…my favorite rapper is Phonte from Little Brother. Those are the guys that I really hope I get a chance to play them the record and have ’em all give me all their blessings.
Are you at all overwhelmed by your new fame?
Ah man, I been doin’ this since I was about 13. Degrassi is bigger than what I’m doing right now, it really is. It’s bigger than any Drake, Cudi, Wale, you know, up-and-coming rap shit. Like I was doing mall tours with 15,000 people [attending] where the fire marshall would come and shut the mall down ’cause there was just too many people in there. I was signing autographs for three, four hours, with a half an hour lunch break and then going back for four more hours. I’ve been through that crazy phase. For me, this is what I want. This is what I know I want to do. I don’t have any doubt in my mind like, Okay, I just want to put out one album and say, “Fuck it.” I dropped out of high school. I put acting on hold.
Why haven’t you signed to a label yet?
The situations take time, you know? To get signed overnight, I’m so glad that didn’t happen to me two years ago ’cause I needed those two years to really build on everything—my talent, my image, my life, everything. I needed two more years of being unsigned and sort of figuring things out to really know what I wanted to do.
I’m not signed to Young Money but definitely Young Money is a family to me. I’m definitely YM affiliated, you know? I have the utmost love for everybody over there, the utmost respect. Mack Maine and Jae Millz, those are like brothers to me, you know? Nicki [Minaj]. Nicki is Nicki. I love her. And now that I’m in this position I’m just trying to get everything all the way straight. In about a week or two it’ll all…it’ll be out there. You know the press release will be out there. It’ll be official.
Press play to listen to Drake's "Ignant Shit" feat. Lil Wayne from Drake's mixtape So Far Gone
Press play to watch Drake's "Replacement Girl" feat. Trey Songz from Drake's mixtape Comeback Season
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