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TORONTO — Hollywood heavyweight Jamie Foxx says he’s taking Toronto actor-turned-rapper Drake under his wing to help ease his way through superstardom.
“I’m going to be watching that young man and helping him every step of the way because I think he can really be a superstar,” the acclaimed singer-actor said Tuesday, in an interview before a concert in the city.
“I think for women out there, for the young girls coming up, he provides a little bit of integrity and so I applaud him.”
That integrity, said Foxx, comes from the 22-year-old’s roots as an actor on CTV’s “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
‘It allows people a break from just constant rapping, rapping, rapping,’ he says of crooning on his tracks.
While Drake works on his debut LP, Thank Me Later, the Toronto MC said there is no method to any of his madness. If he gets inspired to spit rhymes on a track, he’ll get to it. If he wants to croon to a beat, that’s what it will be.
“The balance of singing and rapping has been blurred ever since I did So Far Gone,” he said of his breakthrough mixtape. “I mean, I don’t really have a formula for that. I don’t say, like, ‘OK, I can only sing this hook or I want to rap this.’ I just really hear a beat, and it’s like, ‘If I can write to it on a hip-hop level, if I can pen some raps to it, then that will work.’ And then maybe after I do that, I’ll get in the booth and sing a little part of the verse.
“I like to do that,” he continued. “I like to incorporate singing into my verses. And then I feel like it allows people a break from just constant rapping, rapping, rapping, you know? I think it’s great to incorporate melodies into the songs that I write. And yeah, my goal is just really to make a song that after I listen to it, I’ll just be like, ‘Man, people are going to know the words to that.’ That’s the best thing. I think I’m doing it right, ’cause when I go to the shows, people know the words to the songs, and that’s good.”
Drake has the video for “Best I Ever Had” out right now and says he’ll probably be appearing in front of the cameras for more clips soon.
“There’s talk to do a ‘Successful’ video,” Drake said. “Also, you know, I’m shooting the video to ‘Digital Girl’ with Jamie Foxx and Kanye West and The-Dream. And then there is another song that we have that we might shoot a video for, for the album. So as far as videos go, there is some more potential chances to see [me].”
“Drake is the new movement, man. You gotta think about what this kid has done, man. To have records on a mixtape, and then the next thing you know he’s on top of the charts. And every time you mention him, people go crazy,” Foxx told MTV News. “I’ve had the chance to meet Drake and listen to his music. The volumes of music he’s producing makes him a strong force that’ll be around for a very long time. Because usually, when you see an artist of today, they do one thing — maybe they perform a song or do a great hook — but you seldom see a guy who can walk a song, all from the R&B end, and then to be on a track with Bun B … and Bun B, he doesn’t get on tracks with people unless it’s really legit … so I’m actually honored to have him on a track called ‘Digital Girl,’ and we will be working with each other in the future.”
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Best I Ever Had is now available on iTunes.