Lately, Drake has been trying to take on the music industry all by himself. The headlines often spotlight him beefing with other rappers like Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, and Rick Ross. But behind the scenes, he has tried taking Universal Music Group to court, claiming they were picking sides in his feud with Lamar and inflating his streams.
So far, the efforts have been largely unsuccessful. All he’s been able to do is take shots and claim he’s above the industry on ICEMAN. Time will tell whether he’s able to truly beat the system. But it’s easy to tell where Drake’s resentment stems from. According to him, the only reason he signed a deal in the first place was out of loyalty to Lil Wayne.
In a 2011 interview with Billboard, Drake recalled being happy signing with Young Money/Cash Money/Universal. Admittedly, he felt like the only way he would succeed was at least through distribution, which he needed a label to do. But truthfully, he never felt like he needed them otherwise. Ultimately, his decision was for the benefit of his friend and mentor Lil Wayne.
“That was me being loyal. That’s why my deal is structured the way it is,” Drake added. “If I could’ve found a way where he would’ve benefited off of an indie deal or we could have done something different, then yeah, maybe I would’ve done something different. But the way it’s worked out, I feel like he’s proud and he’s happy, and that’s all that matters to me.”
Drake Once Said the Only Reason He Signed His Record Deal Was Out of Loyalty to Lil Wayne
If it wasn’t for Young Money loyalty, Drake’s whole mindset revolved around challenging previous industry norms. The only way to truly make it in music was to do it a bit differently than everyone else.
“I’m not going to say they don’t have genius ideas that assist with careers. I’m not going to say that you don’t potentially strain relationships because DJs don’t feel as connected to me because I release all my music through my website or whatever. Well, f**k it, that’s the way I like to do it,” Drake shrugged. “And I feel like our brand… it can only grow upward.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the Toronto MC admitted to feeling like a guinea pig for artists coming out of the blog era at the time. Dealing with opinions from the internet can be overwhelming, but Drake proved there was a way to remain steadfast despite everything.
“I commend any artist thriving in this generation, because it’s difficult. You have to have thick skin and just care about your craft, and know that there’s a thousand positive people for every one negative person,” he added.
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