Spotify’s annual Wrap Up campaign has revealed that 2Pac is the artist Drake listened to the most in 2022. According to the streaming platform, the Toronto native spent a total of 246 minutes listening to ‘Pac’s music this year and ranks among the late rap star’s biggest segment of fans, according to those metrics.
News of the 6 God keeping Pac at the top of his rotation may be surprising to some, as he’s been far more vocal regarding other influences throughout the years. One example is Jay-Z, comparing his love for Hov to his admiration of Pac on his 2009 track “Fear.”
“I never cried when ‘Pac died,” he admits on the track before adding, “But I probably will when Hov does,” a line that caused a bit of criticism, which he later addressed in an interview clarifying his comments.
“A lot of people also sort of don’t understand the meaning of that line,” the hitmaker said at the time. “It’s not necessarily that I don’t love West Coast Hip-Hop or that I don’t love ‘Pac now that I’m 22, but that line was just said to show how new I am to Hip-Hop. I was 9 when that [Tupac’s death] happened, so it didn’t really affect me.”
He would later go on to say that he aspires to be more like the rap icon, in terms of his artistry and confident persona. “If there was anybody that I wish I could be a little more like, it’d probably be ‘Pac,” Drizzy told TheBoombox. “I think more than anything, aside from his music, which was absolutely incredible, I think he just drove people with who he was, the way he carried himself. He was somebody who was a free spirit and he did not care, he just did what he felt. I wish I could have a little more ‘Pac to my persona. I’m working on it.”