Drake Covers Complex (December/January)

Complex’s Damien Scott takes a trip to Toronto to interview Drake for the cover story of Complex’s December/January issue. The issue, seen above, will be released December 6th.

Read the cover story here.

GQ: Drake on Take Care, His Sweaters and People Talking 

GQ sits down with Toronto MC Drake to talk girls, “Take Care,” the sweaters (!) and more. Some choice excerpts follow:

GQ: You announced the title of this album, Take Care, with us back in December. What does it mean?
Drake: No one has actually asked me that yet. I came up with the name when I was on a bus in Birmingham, England, going to a show. “Take Care” is this thing we use in passing conversation to dismiss bullshit like, “Oh, you couldn’t make it on time? Oh, take care, take care.” We’ve always used that and then I really took so much care making this album. I knew I was going to go home and take longer than six months, I knew that I was literally going to take care of making this project and be attentive, be clear, be immersed in it. “Take Care” worked.

GQ: On to something a little lighter. We’re GQ, so we have to ask: What’s up with the sweaters?
Drake: [laughs] Now, this I have been asked about several times.

GQ: Do you have a favorite?
Drake: Yes, I do. It’s a toss-up between three sweaters. I’d say one would be obviously the OVO Owl Sweater. I can wear it repetitively and no one calls me out on it. I have a cashmere Hermes sweater that I love. Lastly, any of my Missoni sweaters. I don’t give a fuck what anybody says about my Missoni sweaters! Fuck you, if you don’t like my sweater! [Editor’s note: A middle-aged couple sitting next to us sharply turn their heads.] It’s funny because people only talk about me and sweaters because I don’t give them anything else to talk about. I live in Canada, so any dirt I do you’ll never see because we don’t have the paparazzi up there! It’s the stupidest thing, man, but I’ll embrace it. Hopefully Missoni hollers at me and we get a sweater line popping!

GQ: People talk a lot of shit, anything you wish they’d stop saying?
Drake: That’s tough. I wish that we lived in a time and a generation where people would stop viewing my honesty as overly emotional. People always act like I spend my life crying in a dark room. I don’t, I’m good. I’m a man. I want to be remembered as an artist that gave you a piece of me, as opposed to some surface bullshit. I don’t think people realize that we die, we leave here, and either they forget about you or remember you. And how they remember you is up to you. I just want to be remembered as a poet that was open and honest because I wake up every morning and I’m me.

Read the full interview at GQ.

Photo: Mark Anthony Green

Drake Interview w/ Stereogum

In this interview, Drake reveals “Lord Knows” was initially a gospel sample which they couldn’t clear so Just had to go back and have a choir come in to re-do it. Later he says, about his writing process on the album:

As far as the raps go, it’s sorta crazy like, I really set out with anger in my heart to prove that I’m not here by accident, I’m not here because of some flow I borrowed from someone else. I’m not here because of one particular flow or one particular moment. There’s nobody that can ever tell me like, Drake is made up of this component and that component. Never. When people thought it was just rap, then I went and wrote like Alicia Keys’ “Unthinkable.” “Best I Ever Had” I never used some other rapper’s flow in it.People try and downplay the amount of different areas that I’ll touch on, so when I wanted to do this album, I’m going to make it a purpose. I’m going to make it a point to not only NOT use any of the flows they’re talking about, but I want to create new things that I know that people will have to work harder to create their own new shit or they’re just going to end up copying me. I say on the album, my manager’s name is Gee Roberson so I say:

Roberson boost the rate up / Time that somebody paid up / A lot of these niggas came up off a style that I made up / But if all I hear is me / Who should I be afraid of?

That’s some real shit.

He also goes on to say that he’ll propose to Nicki Minaj on the spot and he takes back the “I wish I wasn’t famous” line from Thank Me Later.

Link: Stereogum Q&A: Drake

Drake & Rick Ross Working on Y.O.L.O. Mixtape

Drake told XXL he and Rick Ross are working on a joint mixtape, calledY.O.L.O. – short for “You Only Live Once”. It’s something Ross mentionsat the beginning of his “Lord Knows” verse and that was later also the inspiration for the Take Care bonus track with Wayne.

“I have been working on a mixtape with Ross,” Drake said. “A mixtape called Y.O.L.O. [That means] ‘You Only Live Once’. I’ve been working on that for the last couple of weeks. We haven’t really connected because he’s been going through this thing with his health. I’ve been stashing my little beats and verses.”

Drake says there is no release date for the tape as of yet and if it were up to him, the project will drop without a lot of pre-hype or warning; he wants to make it a surprise for the fans.

Drake also mentions that he’ll be on Rick Ross’ God Forgives, I Don’t.

Related: Drake On Why He Hates Social Media [The Source]

Drake Covers The Source (November)

Drake ft. Nicki Minaj – Make Me Proud (Prod. by T- Minus)

Drake paid a visit to Funkmaster Flex’s show tonight and let him premiere a new record from Take Care which now has a release date of November 15th.

CLICK PHOTO FOR DOWNLOAD!

Drake Club Paradise Tour Dates w/ Kendrick Lamar & ASAP Rocky

Drake – Club Paradise

Dropping this for our boy Avery…this was his favorite shit during the recording process. 2 more songs coming tonight as well. ovoxo

Download: Link