S. Samuel
Young Money star Drake has finally addressed ex-Little Brother member Phonte's accusations of dodging him and 9th Wonder for a collaboration despite giving them multiple public accolades.
Drizzy said while he does apologize to Phonte, there is an explanation for a delayed collabo.
“With me and Tay, I kinda dropped the ball on a feature he needed me to do, just being 100% honest,” he explained. “I really wanted to do a record with him, and we actually did do a record for my album, and then something happened with the producer and the beat, and it started getting funny so I had to scrap the record. And then he was like, ‘Well, can you do this feature for me,’ and at the time I was trying to find my sound and trying to figure out what this album was going to be about, and I kind of let it slip through the cracks. That was my fault, and I do apologize to Phonte for that. But I still want to make it happen; I talked to 9th Wonder about trying to make it happen, we’ll get it eventually. He knows he’s one of the biggest influences on my career.” (Village Voice)
In August, Phonte gave his reaction to Drizzy dedicating his BMI Awards “Songwriter of the Year” trophy to him and questioned their delayed joint effort.
“To my knowledge, [a Take Care collaboration] is not happening. We’ve made contact with each other but all of my attempts to make something real happen have led to a dead end,” Phonte said in an interview. “I saw that he dedicated his BMI award to me and while that was a very noble and thoughtful gesture, I’d much rather he had dedicated himself to finishing a verse for one of me and 9th [Wonder]’s songs. That, to me, seems like a more tangible way of showing gratitude. But with that said, I’m still a fan and I think he’s an incredibly talented artist. When Take Care drops, he’s got my money.” (The Source)
Along with Phonte, Drizzy gave props to rap stars Kanye West and Andre 3000 for inspiring his music.
“Well, first of all, I gotta thank all of my friends and everybody that I work with,” Drake said during his acceptance speech. “I really want to dedicate this award, real quick, to my mother who never gave me the definition of a word in my life. She always made me go look it up — and I also want to dedicate this to Kanye West, Andre 3000 and to Phonte from Little Brother.” (Rap-Up TV)
Last year, Drake talked about working alongside 9th Wonder for his Take Care LP.
“I think the best part about what me and 9th have is time,” Drake said in an interview. “We have time to get it right so a lot of the collaborative that’s been going on at this point have been discussions — like, when I work [with] somebody, because I work so close with 40, because I know Boi-1da so well, they’ve been in my life since I was 18, 19. I like to really know somebody if I’m going to bring them in on a project. I think the best part is me and 9th, I’ve probably seen more of 9th than my mom in the last three weeks. I mean, me and 9th, we’re building towards a working relationship that goes beyond ‘Oh let me get some beats and I’ll record to them.’ I’m more looking forward to when I get off this tour in November, sitting down together, really crafting some stuff and we’ve talked about some things that would be great.” (The Wonder Year)
Check out a recent Drake interview below:
