S. Samuel
Young Money's Drake has accepted the challenge to deliver his all on the upcoming Thank Me Later debut and promised to continue promoting it long after its release next month.
Drake also spoke on the public expecting more from him than the average rap newcomer.
“I know I have a lot of growing up to do, but I guess, unfortunately, people won’t judge me as if this is my first album or my first year in the game,” Drake said in an interview with Billboard Magazine. “This is a crucial moment for me. It actually feels like my last album, not my first. I’ll be working hard to make sure you remember it. I’ll be in your city, performing all the songs, and hopefully looking at you in your eyes and let you know it’s real out here, man. I’m ready.” (Billboard)
Earlier this year, Drake discussed the amount of support he has received from rap stars.
“For anybody that doesn’t believe in me, your favorite rappers do,” he added. “They call me for hooks, features and all that. Ross, Jeezy, the hardest dudes–B.G. C-Murder calls me from jail. Turk calls me from jail to tell me I’m doing great. For the people that don’t believe, the people that you do believe in got love for me. That’s all that matters.” (XXL Mag)
Rap heavyweight Fat Joe recently praised the rapper’s versatility.
“He’s just moving at a way faster pace than other artists have in the past,” Joe explained in an interview. “He’s putting out maybe five, six, seven hit records. You know how hard it is for a person to have one hit? So imagine what his album is like…Two very different artists…As far as I’m concerned, [50 Cent] had one hot album, and his first album was a classic and that’s it. After that everything else was bubble gummed down. So Drake, I think he will outlast 50 Cent. If you talk about 50 Cent on top really making hot music it didn’t even last two, three, four years. Looking at the quality of the music that Drake is making and the different lanes–he wrote that song for Alicia Keys, ‘Unthinkable’–I think we ain’t seen nobody like him yet.” (VIBE)
Hip-Hop pioneer LL Cool J previously gave Drake props for his skills.
“It’s a lot of talented guys out there,” LL explained in an interview. “Lil Wayne is talented. He seems to be the dominant figure in this particular era of hip-hop. So you know, he’s doing his thing. I like Drake, you know, that ‘You The Best’ is a good record…It’s a good song. There’s a lot of talented guys out there so you know, kudos fellas.” (Hip Hop Official)
Drake’s Thank Me Later is scheduled to drop Tuesday, June 15th.
Check out Drake speaking on his new album down below:
