The moment Lil Wayne knew Drake would be a superstar: “Potential beyond my imagination”
Drake is one of the biggest rappers of all time. The Toronto rapper has remained one of the most consistent artists since his So Far Gone mixtape in 2009, solidifying himself with albums such as Take Care, Nothing Was the Same, and Views. Part of his success is down to his affiliation with Lil Wayne, who signed Drizzy to Young Money Entertainment in the early days of his career.
As a pillar in the hip-hop industry, Weezy had a ton of knowledge to share with Drake. His experience allowed him to ensure that Drizzy stays humble in his success, believing it’s an important part of remaining true to oneself. However, Wayne can admit that Drake had all of the tools as a musician to begin with.
Speaking to Paris Hilton for Interview Magazine, Wayne recalled the moment he first heard Drizzy’s music. “When I first heard Drake, I already knew that he had potential beyond my imagination, because the kid was singing and rapping-and he was rapping real well,” he said. Drake has always had the ability to switch between hip-hop and R&B, which has played a big part in setting himself apart from the crowd.
From the very beginning, Wayne knew he was going to be a superstar, prompting him to strike a deal with him. “[He had] kind of an odd mixture-like, you don’t get somebody very often who is real good at this and real good at that,” he explained. “That’s when I already knew that he was gonna blow up, right there.”
As well as being in business together, Wayne and Drake have also been prolific collaborators. Some of their biggest songs include ‘HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)‘, ‘Miss Me’, ‘She Will’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘Love Me’, and many others. With the amount of tracks they have together, it’s a surprise they don’t have a collaborative album.
Wayne believes that Drake would have been a success whether he had been signed to Young Money or not. Still, he wanted to be on the same team as him, and his instinct was correct. “He would’ve done it-with me or not-I just wanted to make sure it was with me,” he said.
“The main thing I’ve told him, or taught him, for lack of better words, is just to stay humble and remember who you are throughout it all, because there’s gonna be moments in every single day when you’ll have to go back to that person and reflect on that person.”
Drake has also shown the same glowing respect for Wayne, claiming one of his ‘Crying Out for Me’ verses on Tha Carter III made him “reassess” himself as an MC. “That’s one of the best verses ever,” he said about the song. “Just because I’m a conversational artist, so to get that verse off and tie it all together at the end. I remember, I had to reassess myself as a rapper after I heard that, for sure.” Clearly, they were made to cross paths.