Drake‘s former bodyguard, Mike Van Wyck, has opened up about his relationship working with the chart topping rapper-singer.
During an interview with Money Buys Happiness, Wyck, who spent six years working security for the OVO rapper, shined some light on what it was like burning the midnight oil with Drizzy.
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When probed about the biggest lessoned he learned from his time with the Certified Lover Boy, he revealed it was his “work ethic.”
“I thought I had work ethic and I do. I guess if you ask people about me, I do work hard. I don’t really take days off and kinda of just grind all the time. But, to see a guy at that level — watch them go out night after night — especially on tours and perform, it’s robotic. In a very positive way. Not in a negative way.”
Elaborating on the 36-year-old’s diligence, he added, “It’s engrained. This showmanship. This person, the person becomes on stage and how they perform from show to show — you could probably run the shows overlapping each other and it would look the same. There is that much consistency to it and you’d figure like someone that’s doing that kind of work would have a night off.”
“I’m watching this person do this every night and to see the looks on these faces and to understand that level of work ethic and that level of consistency is pretty wild to see, in person” he concluded.
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As for how the professional bodybuilder and fitness trainer first linked with Drizzy he revealed, “I was kinda in the right place at the right time and we had mutual people we knew and I kinda got asked to come around and it just took off from there.”
Later on, reflecting on his early career —serving as both a bouncer and local private security — he shared that it was a blast from the past that led to him gaining employment with the rapper. “I had a connection to the group through 40 [producer Noah “40” Shebib]. So, 40 and me went to the same camp when we were younger — we didn’t hang out at camp because we had different crews — but we knew who each other were.” He added, “When I was just living my life and I would see stuff about Drake coming up, they would always mention this 40 guy and I was like that’s fucking Noah.”
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Coming full circle, the duo have periodically hit the gym together, with Wyck noting that the four time Grammy winner has “always been a very supportive person in my life — supported me no matter what. He’s a really good dude.”
Meanwhile, Drake recently made headlines after hosting a concert series at Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater on Saturday (January 21) and Sunday (January 22), where he, alongside The Diplomats — Jim Jones, Cam’ron, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zekey — performed hits like “I Really Mean It,” “Dipset Anthem” and “We Fly High (Ballin’).”
During night one, Drizzy wore Cam’ron’s famous pink fur coat and hat, and was gifted a custom OVO x Dipset bracelet by Jim Jones.
“These guys right here from Harlem made us dress different, talk different, walk different, rap different — all the way in Canada,” the Toronto hitmaker told the crowd before Cam, Jim, Juelz and Freekey Zekey left the stage.
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Attendees included Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr. and Ice Spice — who Drake allegedly dissed on his latest album Her Loss following reports that he unfollowed her on Instagram — as well as the Toronto rapper’s mother and longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib.
For the second night, Drake wore the Diplomats’ U.S. flag jacket that Cam’ron wore in his “Get ‘Em Girls” music video, while Santana and Jones rocked custom Dipset x OVO jackets designed by Jeff Hamilton.
