I Meet: Drake

Shouts to Archna for hooking me up with Drake's people a few weeks back. Drake is damn near the hottest thing out there right now, so I was mad glad to catch up with him via the method of telecommunications....

Here's what we talked about. You can read the interview proper in the latest issue of RWD, out now...


On Jay-Z:
I have a studio session with Jay-Z tonight. I've been in the studio with him all week, it's been a great week. We're just working on something for both of our projects. It's an honor to be working with him and it's good to meet someone in the industry who you look up to and admire, then you meet them and they're everything that you hoped they would be. That's what I can say about him; he's everything I hoped for and more. To get the chance to work with him is just confirming that there is only one Jay-Z. You always want to perform your best and be your best and impress people, but in the back of your mind to be in this business you have to have the kind of mentality that says 'Look, if I'm here, then I'm here for a reason to be in this studio with Jay, and to be on tour with Wayne.' As honored as I am, and as humble as I am to be with them, I also know that I must have earned it. I'm here cause one day I could be as big as Jay or maybe even bigger, so I'm just going to do what I can and appreciate every moment. Yeah, it's pressure, but it's a great pressure.

On Being The Hottest Thing In Rap Right Now:
I think hip hop operates in cycles.There's a time when people will have a run and do their thing and excel in everything and own the game, and then there's that spark of excitement when you feel like there's someone new who might be able to do the same thing. I just turned 22, I'm a young guy, and I've studied these guys. I'm a fan before I'm a friend of Wayne. Same with Jay. I think that people potentially hear someone else that they can say for a generation of people. Jay was that guy coming up for a different generation, and Wayne was that guy. For the younger generation, or for other people my age, I might be that guy for them. It's just excitement. Like I remember when Kayne was first coming out and he was that guy to me. When College Dropout came out, it was the most exciting time of things. I think I've somehow managed to take the same effect.

Writing Raps:
I take my time. That's one thing that I have to take my hat off to Jay and Wayne for, cause I don't know how they do that off-the-top. Me personally, I was never good at school. I was always terrible at remembering things, and tests, but when it comes to writing and creating, I like to write my ideas down. I spend a long time going on the Internet and researching things. I look at movies and I have to make notes and jot things down and that's how my verses come out. It's just bits of pieces that I put together. I really know that every verse is an opportunity, so I want to make sure that every line, every witty line and every witty verse is the best verse it can be. So I definitely take my time. Going off the top of your head is only cool if you're Jay or Wayne. Not writing is only impressive when you're writing phenomenal music. But if you're saying you don't write your verses down and your verses are mediocre, then you probably should write.

The Lyric About His Mum On Succesfulll:
My mum was just at that breaking point, after looking after me and also my grandmother. She just wanted to get away. She was contemplating just leaving cause she couldn't take it. I went out cause I had left something in the back seat and my mum had a bag that she had packed and she was getting into her car to leave and we had this very dramatic moment. I was just telling her that everything is going to be okay and to just have patience. But a lot of people go through a lot of things, especially in my life. It's crazy to have to work and try and make all of it happen and try and be a centre point for a lot of people in my life; my mother, my father, my uncle, even some of my friends depend on my to always remain calm and always have the right answer and always come through. My my mother and father are two amazing people but I like to tell people the stories of my life, cause that's when I can really can connect with people, when I'm being honest.

On Lil Wayne:
Me and Wayne click cause when I came around Wayne, I didn't really get intimidated to change. I was like 'Man, I don't know if this guy is going to like me.' I have no tattoo's, I have no grills, I've never been in any kind of hood shit in my life, so I was nervous. But I was like, I'm just going to embrace this and I'm going to meet him and be myself and refuse to change. No matter now much I may like the way he dresses, or the way he raps, no matter how intriguing his life is, I'm just going to be me and hopefully he respects that. We got off on a great note. I'm a quiet guy. I'm not loud, I don't have tattoo's, I'm not wild or anything like that and I think that it was a nice balance for him, to have as Young Money. It was about hard work and we clicked on that level. the crazy thing when it comes to me anD Wayne is that I idolise him and I love him cause he's the kind of thing I could never be. I think that feeling is mutual cause I'm everything that he's not; we're just two opposites but we found a way to appeal to the world.

Being Signed... Or Not:
I haven't signed a deal, I've been holding out just to get the right situation. I've had a lot of great options and a lot of very large things on the table, but I'm waiting on a specific situation that I can get the most out of. The album I just started the other day - crazily enough with Jay - it's called Thank Me Later. Whoever we decide to put it out with, its about the team of people that is around me, supporting me. a


For more Drizzy, check Drake and Octobersveryown Thank Me Later is out this summer