Drake has declared that Erykah Badu is his “eternal spirit animal” after the music legend gave him major kudos following his sold-out concert at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater.
On Monday (Jan. 23), the Canadian rapper shared his reaction to Badu commenting on his greatness via a post on her social media account. The 51-year-old reposted an article arguing that Drake’s shows at the Apollo proves he’s the “voice of a generation,” an appraisal she seemingly agreed with, writing “Cause he is” while tagging the rapper’s own account.
It didn’t take long for Drake to reciprocate the sentiment, sharing Badu’s own post and reveling in the validation received. “My eternal spirit animal has spoken,” the 36-year-old wrote, adding a string of emojis to convey his emotions.
The connection between Erykah Badu and Drake was sparked at least a decade ago, when Drake namedropped her on his 2014 release “Days in the East.” The following year, the 6 God’s chart-topping 2015 single “Hotline Bling” left such an impression on Badu that she recorded a cover of the single, which led to the creation of her mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone in November that year.
During an interview promoting the project’s release, the Dallas native spoke on her and Drake’s relationship and how they built such a rapport with one another. “I didn’t really know Drake very well, but I knew he was coming to town,” the “Tyrone” singer recalled during an appearance on The Real. “And my oldest [child] Seven is 18 and he was in sixth grade at the time, but I knew Drake was his favorite artist. And I got in touch with Drake and I asked him if he could visit my son’s school to talk to his class and he did. And he was so gracious and the children were really inspired, so that’s how we became good friends.”
This past weekend, Drake performed two shows at the Apollo Theater in conjunction with SiriusXM. The concerts took place on Saturday and Sunday and included guest appearances from 21 Savage, Dipset, and Lil Uzi Vert.