The one Drake song that originally belonged to Rihanna
Picture that it’s 2010, and you’re listening to the radio, or you’re at a party, or at a Starbucks or an Urban Outfitters, and ‘Find Your Love’ comes on, by the then up and coming, but by no means a household name, rapper Drake, and you, as a normal person, think, ‘Wow, what a track’.
Released as a single a month before his debut album Thank Me Later became an iconic soundtrack to the year and the 2010 zeitgeist, ‘Find Your Love’ is an early career moment of Champagne Papi’s where he is already displaying the uniqueness of his public persona and artistry within the hip hop scene. It’s a song about fearing loving someone who could hurt you. It’s an open admission of insecurity, jealousy, and emotional risk. It is absolutely not the usual fodder of a rap track.
It is, as we know today, quintessential Drake. Teaming up to write the song with Kanye West and industry legends Jeff Bhasker and Patrick Reynolds, with Kanye and Bhasker producing the track alongside No ID, it is a dancehall-inspired R&B track that recalls Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak album. It debuted in the top 40 in the United States charts, and it would go on to be called one of the best songs of the year in 2010 round-ups.
But it was also, originally, intended for Rihanna, which seems surprising, considering just how on-brand the song is for Drake, and just how embedded it is in the trajectory of his career.
But in an interview with No ID, conducted by Complex magazine, in which the hip hop producing titan discusses the stories behind his classic records, he explains how it was actually meant to be a Rihanna track.
“That was actually a Rihanna record,” he said. “Drake came to the studio in LA for more music. I was already on the album as I cut a record with Ye for it, but I was like, ‘Why not do more? Let’s work’. So we were talking, as I like to talk to artists before we work. Drake heard Rihanna’s version and was like, ‘I really want to use this record’, and I was like, ‘Man, ask her!’” he laughed.
“So he ended up with the beat, and then when he recorded it, he was singing, and I was like, ‘Word? Singing. You’re really rolling with this, huh?’ Drake took it and made his own magic record,” No ID concluded.
And in an interview with MTV News, Drake publicly spoke about how the song would have sounded if it had been sung by a woman, which, in his opinion, could have been better. “’Find Your Love’ is an extremely vulnerable song,” he said, “And it’s actually a huge risk. It almost feels like the song should be performed by a woman. I’m just hoping that men really hear the song and they’re honest with themselves. I know a lot of men feel that way.”
The two would, obviously, go on to have quite the 2010. Their young stardom, which transcended being mere celebrities and achieved the status of pop and hip-hop cultural figures, was compounded by rumours that they were in some romantic relationship with each other. No doubt aided by tracks like ‘What’s My Name?’ and its subsequent music video. Honestly, you just had to be there.