How Future accidentally inspired Drake’s ‘Started from the Bottom’
‘Started from the Bottom,’ while only peaking in sixth place on the Billboard Hot 100, was nonetheless a big success for Drake.
The track, released in 2013 as a single from his third album Nothing Was the Same, was well-regarded among the critics, and it even picked up a couple of Grammy nominations. It was one of the biggest songs of the year.
But the whole thing, it turns out, came about from a misunderstanding between Drake and his one-time collaborator, and eventual enemy, Future. At least, that’s what Future himself has claimed.
Drake and Future’s relationship is an undeniably rocky one, but, back in the day, they used to work together well in the studio. It was during one of these sessions that Future apparently said something aloud that got Drake thinking.
As reported by Hot New Hip Hop in 2022, Future has claimed he was in the studio with Drake when he made a remark to an engineer. It wasn’t anything special, and it was a phrase he had used many times in a studio before. “Start it from the bottom,” he said, referring to the beat he was set to rap over.
These words lodged deep in Drake’s mind, even after their session had ended. He apparently later told Future that, in the car home, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. The phrase just wouldn’t leave him.
As luck would have it, Drake already had a beat to hand that needed some lyrics. He played this track on the car’s sound system on his way home, and he started putting together some verses. It was all based around this phrase Future had uttered.
Future also claimed that Drake later acknowledged his role in the creation of ‘Started from the Bottom’ by buying him a gift. It was an expensive bottle of cognac, but, as Future joked, he’d wanted more than that.
“I don’t want a bottle,” he apparently told Drake. “I need publishing!”