Why Drake is Lil Dicky’s favourite rapper of all time
(Credit: Yannik Rohrer)

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Why Drake is Lil Dicky's favourite rapper of all time

Becoming a rapper never seemed feasible to Lil Dicky, but one viral video in 2013 would make David Burd’s dreams a reality. Moreover, he’s working in the same era as his favourite artist to ever pick up a microphone, Drake.

Lil Dicky, real name, David Burd, took an unconventional path to the rap game. After graduating from the University of Richmond, Burd moved to San Francisco and put his creative mind to use at the advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

While, on the surface, this seems like the least rap-friendly job on planet earth, somehow Lil Dicky managed to squeeze his love of hip hop into his work. After he reimagined his monthly progress report as a rap video, the agency recognised his talent and promoted him to their creative department.

Even though he had a comfortable career, Burd still had the urge to experiment with his rapping. He dropped his debut mixtapeSo Hard, in 2011 and relentlessly released one song a week for five straight months. His life changed in 2013 when ‘Ex Boyfriend’ received over a million views inside 24 hours on YouTube, and he officially became a full-time rapper.

Throughout his career, Dicky has always looked up to Drake, who he sees at the pinnacle of rap music. He admires Drizzy so greatly because of the versatility of his artistry, which he dreams to one day replicate.

“I love Drake, he’s my favourite rapper,” Dicky explained. “I think he’s just far and away the best. I like comparing rappers to NBA players in terms of their legacy, and I see Drake right now in the way I see LeBron (James). He can do everything. His skillset is so vast. Like LeBron, he can shoot, he can pass, and Drake can sing, spit, make hooks.

“He can do everything. Drake, what he raps about, is kinda about the rap game, and him being a better rapper. As a rapper, I couldn’t ask for more applicable content for me. What he’s rapping about is what I’d love to rap about but probably never going to.”

Dicky later had the chance to tell him this to his face when he met Kanye West in the studio, and to his surprise, Drake made a surprise visit. “I told them, I said, ‘Guys, while I have you both here, you guys are by far, my favourite two musical artists ever and whoever is third, there’s a big drop off to me,” he said.

“I do love Jay-Z, too, and he’s so important, but in terms of shaping my life, you guys shaped my musical life.’ Drake was like, ‘Man, thank you so much.’ He seemed moved by such a thing. Kanye was like, ‘Yeah.'”

Meeting your heroes is something that people often warn against, but if it’s Drizzy that you admire the most, then there’s nothing to worry about, as Dicky can confirm. Although Ye is a different story…