Behind the Mic: The story behind Drake’s ‘Forever’
Drake landed one of the biggest collaborations of his career in 2009 before he had even released his debut album, Thank Me Later. The Toronto rapper teamed up with Kanye West, Eminem and his mentor, Lil Wayne, on ‘Forever’ in August that year, peaking at number eight on the Hot 100. At the time, Drake was buzzing off the success of his So Far Gone mixtape, singles ‘Over’ and ‘Find Your Love’, and signing to Young Money Entertainment.
‘Forever’, produced by Boi-1da, was originally a Kardinal Offishall beat in early 2008, recording an unreleased song called ‘Bring It Back’. However, Drake later acquired the song after Kardinal didn’t include it on his album, recruiting Ye, Em, and Weezy for the track to appear on the soundtrack to More than a Game, a documentary film about NBA star LeBron James.
“Me and Gee [Roberson, Drake’s former manager] talked about the song,” Drake told DJ Drama. “Melody and message-wise, we thought it would be dope to put someone on there. Originally, we thought Kanye. But then the powers that be started having a lunch or two together, and they put it together.”
He continued, “With a new Wayne verse, Interscope stepped in, and we had that great look from Eminem. It’s like you have the option to make a song or the option to make a moment. And it was one of those calls on that end – let’s just make this something for people to remember.”
Drake, Kanye, Wayne and Em all spit verses on the record, with Drizzy also singing the hook. The 6 God famously raps in the first verse, “Last name Ever, first name Greatest/ Like a sprained ankle, boy, I ain’t nothin’ to play with.”
Most of the music video was filmed at Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida, except Eminem’s part, which was shot in Detroit due to scheduling conflicts. Acclaimed director Hype Williams was behind the visual, which featured cameo appearances from Birdman, The Alchemist, Slaughterhouse, Mr. Porter, Trick-Trick, Bizarre, Kuniva, and others.
Drake revealed that Wayne’s “Life is such a roller coaster” line was his favourite on the song, but still gave praise to everyone else. “Everybody does their thing,” he said. “Kanye does Kanye. Eminem raps in a way where nobody might have heard him rap in a long time and says some things that are great for his fans to hear. I’m just proud to even be on the record. People are telling me they like my verse. I’m just happy I held my own.”
Kanye once admitted that after hearing Em’s verse, he went back and rewrote his lyrics for two days to match his ability. He cared so much that he even cancelled appointments to focus on the verse.
“Everybody approached the beat different,” Eminem told Complex. “Kanye was crazy, too, and Wayne. I just saw the beat differently than anybody else did; for some reason, I felt like the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster.”
As well as the More than a Game soundtrack, ‘Forever’ also appeared on Relapse: Refill, a reissue of Em’s 2009 album that included seven additional tracks. The song received plaudits from rap peers, with Jay-Z describing it as “the best posse cut of the decade.”