After Monday night’s kickoff in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Drake’s Away From Home Tour is under way. The outing lasts until the end of May, so fans of the 23 year-old performer have ample time to catch and opening acts Francis and the Lights and K-OS on the road. But what about his family from Young Money?
“A lot of the Young Money artists are doing their own thing,” Drake explained to MTV News on his opening night. “I know Nicki [Minaj] is recording her album. Gudda is on a run right now. 
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Download: Jay-Z feat. Drake – Off That
And that’s a rap! As far as initiations go, hanging out with Diddy in Toronto the other night must have been right up there for Drake, Canada’s (and hip hop’s) Next Big Thing. There they were at Sotto Sotto. There, again, at Century Room. There, too, in the recording studio above Tattoo Rock Parlour, on Queen, where the Gatsbyish Diddy was said to be recording with the Toronto singer, and where the impressario was seen coming down the common stair well, posing like a pro for pics and jetting off just as fast in his SUV chariot.
In Toronto for a jam-packed sked, Diddy made like the Julius Caesar to Drake’s Mark An tony. (Or maybe more like the Maya Angelou to his Oprah Winfrey?) And while we’re on the subject, it behooves me to mention that Mr. Next Big Thing, a former Degrassi kid, certainly has no shortage of mentors. In the last four months alone — since Drake’s song The Best I Ever Had morphed into the song of the summer — not only has he been courted by Jay-Z, recruited by Lil Wayne and praise-the-lorded by Jamie Foxx but he’s notched up an incredible number of music collaborations with everyone from Mary J. Blige to Justin Timberlake to Rihanna.
Makes you kinda wonder: Is there ever a case of too many mentors in the kitchen? Hey, Drake, don’t you forget to listen to the little guy in your gut.
Source: National Post
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“Drake has signed a deal to International Creative Management which represents a variety of artists including Beyonce, Sean Kingston, Katt Williams and more.”
Drizzy’s new signing was made public today (July 22).
Chart-topping rapper/singer Drake has signed to International Creative Management (ICM) to handle his tour booking and branding moving forward. The ICM deal follows Drake?s recent signing to Young Money Entertainment, with distribution through Universal Republic, for the release of his highly-anticipated debut album, Thank Me Later. (Billboard)
The company is known to represent various artists both in the film and music industry.
The agency represents film and television actors and directors, as well as artists in theater, music, publishing, and new media. A major “tenpercentery” (along with CAA and William Morris Endeavor), ICM represents such A-list clients as Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, Robert Duvall, Beyonce Knowles, and Chris Rock, as well as emerging performers. It has offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London. (International Creative Managament)
Source: Sohh.com
Seems like BET is not looking to take the burden of the backlash regarding Lil Wayne and Drake’s performance at the 2009 BET Awards that aired live last Sunday (06.28).
The performance that included vulgar language and preteen girls dancing and singing to the rapper’s lyrics on stage and on camera, has been at the forefront of a lot of criticism from the show’s viewers and even celebrities. Both Drake and Lil Wayne performed their hit single’s “Best I Ever Had” and “Every Girl”, songs that have strong sexual references.
According to All Hip Hop, a representative from the BET network contacted them to release an exclusive statement denouncing Lil Wayne’s performance and basically reaffirming that the network had nothing to do with it whatsoever.
BET Networks deeply regrets the performance by Young Money at the BET AWARDS ’09 (featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, Gudda Gudda and Mack Maine). Elements of the performance were unplanned and should not have happened.
In response to the large number of open letters sent to the network to show their discontent with Lil Wayne and Drake’s performance, representatives from the network have confirmed that they will be editing out Drake and Lil Wayne’s performance so that it will not air on the re-run’s of the award show. ( view video here )
