Drake may be one of the biggest artists on the planet, but he still has to pinch himself from time to time. The Toronto superstar was named Billboard’s Artist of the Decade on Tuesday (May 11) then topped it off by having dinner with a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.
Drizzy took to his Instagram Stories in the early hours of Wednesday morning (May 12) to share a photo of himself with the legendary Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers. He followed up the post by recognizing Billboard’s award and crediting Isley as somebody who shaped his formula and musical taste.
“Today was one of those days it doesn’t feel real,” he wrote. “Waking up to artist of the decade then having dinner with my idol @ronaldisley and listening to the stories behind every song that shaped my love for emotional music and created my formula for a lot of my writing… high on life right now my g’z.”
Drake rapped over an Isley Brothers sample for his Lil Wayne collaboration “Ignant Shit” off 2009’s So Far Gone mixtape. The song uses the instrumental for JAY-Z’s “Ignorant Shit,” which Just Blaze produced and sampled The Isley Brothers’ 1983 song “Between the Sheets.”
Not only that, but he also sampled Aaliyah’s 1994 cover of the group’s “At Your Best (You Are Love)” for his Thank Me Later song “Unforgettable.”
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In April, Ronald Isley took part in Timbaland and Swizz Beatz’s Verzuz series, which saw The Isley Brothers go up against Earth, Wind & Fire. Hosted by Steve Harvey, the livestream lasted three and half hours with a peak of 465,000 viewers at the same time.
Before the event took place, Isley linked up with Dr. Dre in the studio and took several photos for Instagram.
Drake was seen in Los Angeles on Monday (May 10) celebrating UK rapper Giggs’ 38th birthday, who he previously collaborated with on “KMT” and “No Long Talk” from 2017’s More Life project. A bunch of other famous faces were in attendance, including Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah actor Daniel Kaluuya and Snowfall star Damson Idris.
Not hating at all but I can’t find a song of his that emulates or sounds like an Isley Bros jam
Leave it be and be happy
high on crack.
Leave him alone Evan, he didn’t dodo anything you
i was referring to myself, btw.
I will say this for Drake. At least he does have enough respect for these kinds of legends when these crackhead era rappers don’t even know who they are. It’s why the music sucks now since this generation doesn’t sample or emulate their music like the golden era did. My cousin and I were talking about this yesterday. Like who in the hell did these kids grow up with with good music to sample or try to emulate in their rap beats? Therefore, that trap nonsense dominates the airwaves.
It’s like how we went from being spoiled by nothing but greatness in music 2 just fiyah ass beats but no lyrics dat r meaningful nonsense now its just a couple of words dat don’t make sense and it’s a hit wtf when have we become dat lazy and pitiful please bring any OG back and teach these kids grown folks music
Dudes be hating Drake for no reason other than he’s “soft” or “makes songs for women”. He’s definitely the best artist we’ve seen the past decade. While people complain about “mumble rap” hitting the airwaves but you have someone who actually gives a damn about putting together great bodies of work. Who else is left? Kendrick? He tries too hard at being experimental but that’s not gonna last 20 years down the road. J Cole? Decent lyricist but makes snoozefest albums. Drake’s catalog is better than those two.
Forgot… chrisjasper[dot]com
Drake is the best thing right now.so some artist better take a page out of.”Drake book”.. Respect your Helders . that’s what he’s doing.