The Drake song that was heavily inspired by Dipset: “Created something amazing”
Drake has never been afraid to show love to his idols. Whether it’s getting a Boy Better Know tattoo or purchasing Tupac Shakur’s old Death Row chain, he constantly wears his heart on his sleeve and leaves no room for speculation about his influences. Another rap group he has been vocal about over the years is Dipset.
The Toronto rapper is a known fan of the Harlem group, from wearing Diplomats merch to praising classic Cam’ron freestyles. In the early days of his career, he made it his task to rap over something similar to the Heatmakerz beats that the crew famously had in the early 2000s, most prominently heard on their debut album Diplomatic Immunity.
Drizzy released his third album, Nothing Was the Same, in September 2013. The follow-up to Take Care included hits like ‘Started from the Bottom’ and ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’, but one of the highlights was its opening track. ‘Tuscan Leather’ was directly inspired by Dipset, which was born out of Drizzy specifically asking his longtime producer Noah ’40’ Shebib to create something that sounds like their music.
“When we were in Atlanta, I told 40, ‘Man, just give me some shit that Dipset would rap on,’“ he told Vibe. “He gave me the beat for the first part of ‘Tuscan Leather’. Then Boi-1da sent us some drums, and we flipped it, then flipped the end part again. We had this running joke; we’d listen to the song and be like, ‘Oh, the album is done.’ The song was such a journey.”
The track samples Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing’ and notably doesn’t have a chorus. Right from the jump, Drake is braggadocious on the Tom Ford-named song. He talks about making $20 million from the success of his last album, and name-drops everyone from Guy Pearce to Wu-Tang Clan’s Cappadonna.
For 40, the request was music to his ears. It’s the type of music he made when he first started making beats, with ‘Tuscan Leather’ coming about naturally. “That’s what I used to make – not to say it’s not a blatant The Heatmakerz/Dipset beat,” he said. “I love taking shit and flipping it. There’s nothing I can’t do. Literally.”
He added, “I’m not trying to be a facetious asshole, but I’m serious. If I can think of it from an acoustical standpoint, I can most likely achieve it. It’s like a magic trick; people are like, ‘How did you do it?’ Well, I did it in two parts and put them together and accidentally created something amazing.”
The love has gone both ways over the years. Cam’ron has addressed Drake’s forwardness when it comes to praising Dipset, going as far as calling him the biggest musician of the current generation. “When it’s somebody of Drake’s magnitude, you ought to show love,” Cam told GQ. “A lot of people want to criticise and say he’s [too] commercial. He’s the modern day Michael Jackson that can also rap. You got to realise the type of run he’s on.”