|
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. [Read more →]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
New Music: Drake f. Nipsey Hussle – “Killers”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“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 )
‘My loyalty lays with Wayne,’ heavily courted MC says.
Drake stayed down and stayed loyal: No more is he the hottest free agent in music, Drizzy’s recording contract is done! He has artistic freedom and big backing.
“To go independent is — like I said in a prior interview — it’s a funny term,” Drake told MTV News on Tuesday, addressing the deal that finds his albums being released on Wayne’s independent Young Money label (which is affiliated with Cash Money Records) and being distributed by the major Universal Republic. “Because it’s almost impossible to go fully independent. This was basically like the closest thing I could get to my own independence, to sort of continuing to be that guy to the fans that, you know, is trying to prove something — trying to prove that it can be done. So with that being said, I signed directly to Cortez Bryant and Gee Roberson, my two managers, and their company Inspire. It’s a joint venture with Young Money, so that’s the deal. I know there’s been a lot of stuff on the Internet about different entities, but that’s the people involved in the main record deal. And then it’s distributed through Universal, so it’s great, man. You know, if we can sell some records I think it could be a pretty legendary situation.”
Although Drake decided to stay with his managers (who also manage Lil Wayne), he said he loved the courting process.
Read the rest here
DJ Skee took to Twitter to say that the first official single from Blueprint 3 will be “On That,” featuring Drake. Jay wasn’t asked and didn’t speak on that song, but he did talk a little bit about the album’s feel.
“The vibe I’m on is, stripping it down and bringing it back classic,” Jay said. “I hear people, I gotta get back in my square and really let people know what time it is really quick.”
Source: MTV