Drake knows a thing or two about having a loyal fanbase: His following propelled him to a #1 album in June with Thank Me Later. But when it comes to the SoundScan charts, 2010 has belonged to Marshall Mathers. Eminem’s Recovery is #1 for the fifth straight week and looks to be an unbeatable monster right now — he’s close to 2 million copies sold. Drake expects his good friend Lil Wayne to have that same success when he’s released from prison and resumes his career. Much like Eminem and Jay-Z, Drizzy asserts, Weezy has a core that has unconditional love for him.
“I think it’s so rare that an artist comes along in our generation that has a loyal following no matter what — I think Eminem has it,” Drake explained last week on the Atlanta set of his “Fancy” video. “I think Jay-Z has it, although he’s never faltered enough to test it. Jay is almost like the perfect guy. Media-wise, there’s never been a true test of your fans staying with you. Eminem has had gone through a couple of ups and downs and his fans were with him no matter what.
“I think Wayne is that guy,” he continued. “I know Wayne is the next guy, after the two I just named, that has that unconditional, no matter what. You get caught with this and you go to jail. You make little life errors that people should never find out about, but because we’re in the public eye, everyone knows everything. Wayne has those fans.”
Drake told Mixtape Daily that during a recent call, Wayne rapped some verses from Tha Carter IV over the phone — and the world better watch out!