Many have accused Drake of using ghostwriters, from Pusha T to Meek Millz and even Kanye. However, it is someone other than Drake people need to be looking at. It is Diddy. The producer and record executive (real name Sean Combs) has had a rocky road concerning releasing quality music since the days of Bad Boy Entertainment. As such, it is no surprise that he had to turn to someone else in his desperate search for a hit.
In pop music, artists always use ghostwriters, and fans don’t really bad an eyelid. However, when it comes to hip-hop, it is a contentious issue. If you can’t sing in mainstream popular music, it is hard to cover that up. Still, in hip-hop, if you can’t rap, it is straightforward to fake it, which makes ghostwriting rap flows more insidious. Moreover, rap is usually derived from struggle, and to deceive people into believing you have been through a painful experience you haven’t is hugely frowned upon.
Fans of rap music will know Diddy’s backstory, from his childhood in Harlem and Mount Vernon to his success as the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment. That said, he has had such a rich and exciting life that one would wonder why he needs a ghostwriter. Following his 2006 solo album Press Play, which was only certified gold by the RIAA, Diddy began looking for new ways to get his music back to the platinum status he was so used to from the ’90s.
Embarking on a new musical journey in 2009, Combs formed a new crew named ‘Diddy Dirty Money’. Comprised of himself, Kaleena Harper, and Dawn Richard, both singers, the collective made a fusion of R’n’B, pop and hip-hop. Following the group’s inception in 2009, Diddy turned to the hottest artist out for some material. In 2010, that was none other than Drake.
For the collective’s 2010 album, Combs wanted a hit, and acting as a ghostwriter, Drake (real name Aubrey Graham) presented the mogul with ‘Yesterday’, which also featured Chris Brown. The track written by Graham wasn’t released as a single. However, in his desperate search for platinum status, unlike Press Play, the collective’s debut, Last Train To Paris, debuted and peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200. However, Graham is credited on the album as a writer on the track. You can listen to ‘Yesterday’ in the video below.
