Kanye West and Drake are two legends who haven’t had the best relationship over the years. With a feud stretching back to 2007, the pair have had to go on quite the journey to get where they are today. It is fair to say that, even though the two are so different sonically, they failed to co-exist within hip-hop for many years. During his rise to success, while he was on the underground with a cult following as a member of Young Money alongside Nicki Minaj, Drake released several mixtapes. Although nowadays, they’re treated more like albums, years ago, they were quick projects that didn’t include a massive expense on the rapper’s behalf.
Lil Wayne is, arguably, the ‘King Of Mixtapes’ and, during his career, he’s released 29 so far. These inexpensive bodies of work would feature covers, previously unheard music and revised versions of tracks an artist had already put out. However, the covers that Drake did often offended Kanye as he is pretty precious regarding his music. In 2007, when West released one of his most acclaimed albums, Graduation, the OVO artist also put out a project entitled Comeback Season. However, after the its official release. Drake put out an impromptu cover of Ye’s ‘Barry Bonds’ track. Furthermore, the Toronto rapper (real name Aubrey Graham) decided to release the freestyle on the same day Graduation was made available. This rubbed West the wrong way. In 2008, once again, Drake released a freestyle over one of Yeezy’s beats. This time it was ‘Swagga Like Us.’
In 2009, Graham’s So Far Gone also boasted a beat produced by West that initially appeared on the 808s & Heartbreak track ‘Say What’s Real.’ Feeling as if Graham was riding off his talent and completely lacked creativity by 2010, West was at the end of his tether with Drake. However, by the end of the late-2000s, Graham was a formidable force in pop culture and (much to Ye’s dislike) was set to become the next big thing.
In 2010, after having extended an olive branch by co-writing and producing Drake’s hit song, ‘Find Your Love’, Graham was spotted at a nightclub in the early hours of the morning with West’s ex Amber Rose. Ye had just broken up with the model. Within two months West invited Drake to feature on his hit song ‘All Of The Lights’. Originally titled ‘Ghetto University’ a leak of the song was made available online which featured a punchy Drake verse. However, when the song was officially released in November, Drake’s verse had been cut.
There was much speculation as to whether or not Graham was removed because of the leak or out of spite. However, after West’s malicious and petty ‘Lift Yourself’ stunt, it is safe for fans to assume that Drake was cut from the song because he was never intended to appear on it in the first place. It was West’s way of spiting the ‘God’s Plan’ rapper. Speaking on if the move by West affected him, Drake told MTV News in 2010, “Kanye’s creative process is ever-changing” and unveiled that he felt it was a choice made with no ill will. You can hear the leaked version with Drake in the video below.
