By many across the globe, 2015 has been deemed a major year for Hip-Hop. Week after week, it seemed as if another one of Hip-Hop’s acts had announced a new album or was ready to give the finished product to the masses. Among them all, Drake is arguably at the top of the list for dominating 2015’s Hip-Hop scene. From the release of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, to his most recent release, What A Time To Be Alive with Future, Drake hasn’t lost his presence within the realm of Hip-Hop. That makes for no better time for Drake to cover Fader Magazine. The rapper touches on various topics such as not feeling that If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late was fluid, all the way to being envious of Wiz Khalifa’s ‘Black and Yellow.
I tell Drake that the tape sounded as cohesive to me as any “real” album I heard this year, he says, “I appreciate the compliment,” but disagrees.
“By the standard I hold myself and 40 to, it’s a bit broken,” he says. “There’s corners cut, in the sense of fluidity and song transition, and just things that we spend weeks and months on that make our albums what they are.”
“I always used to be so envious, man, that Wiz Khalifa had that song ‘Black and Yellow,’ and it was just a song about Pittsburgh,” Drake says. “Like, the world was singing a song about Pittsburgh! And I was just so baffled, as a songwriter, at how you stumbled upon a hit record about Pittsburgh. Like, your city must be elated! They must be so proud. And I told myself, over the duration of my career, I would definitely have a song that strictly belonged to Toronto but that the world embraced. So, ‘Know Yourself’ was a big thing off my checklist.”
Drake also officially speaks on the beef that ruled the summer between himself and Meek Mill.
“This is a discussion about music, and no one’s putting forth any music?” he says, speaking with a furrowed brow, as if reliving his incredulity. “You guys are gonna leave this for me to do? This is how you want to play it? You guys didn’t think this through at all—nobody? You guys have high-ranking members watching over you. Nobody told you that this was a bad idea, to engage in this and not have something? You’re gonna engage in a conversation about writing music, and delivering music, with me? And not have anything to put forth on the table?”
Being one of Drake’s most enlightening interviews to date, this one is a must-read. With reps for Drake noting that his next LP will drop imminently, perhaps the element of surprise is the theme for Drake’s life at the moment. For now, you can read the full cover story, here.
