Ahead of the release of 'Views', Drake met up with Beats 1 anchor Zane Lowe for an extensive interview to talk about the story behind the album, his upcoming tour, Kanye, The Throne, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and so much more.
On Views Drake said:
- “I’m a very honest person. I can’t write fiction. I can’t really do these sort of like themed story songs that are just a story about someone else I made up, it all has to directly do with me or I can’t make the music.”
- “There’s some harsh truth on this album, but at least it’s truth. People have to respect that, right?”
On Kanye:
- “We live up the street from each other so, you know, on any given night, I’ve been in my room, like just came from training, working out, and they’ve come in my room and been like, ‘Ye’s in the kitchen with your mom and he says he’s here to work.’ Or you know, vice versa. I’ll pull up at his house and see what he’s doing and he’s always in there going crazy with somebody, some vibes, and we’ll just sit and collaborate. That’s what music is about.”
- I love ‘Ye, he’s a really, really good guy. I obviously grew up with him as a role model, I mean I’ve always given him that as credit that he’s part of the reason I’m even here right now, opened doors for us.
- “I hope we get more music out! We had plans, we were supposed to do a mixtape together or an album together, maybe we’ll get that done.”
On Rihanna [their collaboration on Views is a follow-up to “Work”]:
- “She got in the studio and just bodied it. It was like flawless victory. When she sent it back, it was like every nuance, every cadence, everything was perfect. It’s just another piece to add to our catalogue which I’m very proud of. I think we do great music together. It’s tough to do guy-girl collabs without them being like... but I think that makes the records better, though. It makes the records genuine. We’re not forcing some story on people. A lot of the music that we make and the energy that we bring is genuine. We have a lot of genuine energy between us, so...”
On Nicki Minaj:
- “I don’t really talk to Nicki, again, another person I have a lot of love for... I understand what love is and I understand her personal situation. She dealt with me how I would expect her to, which was with class. I could only ever do the same, you know? There were points in time when I was sitting there waiting, like, how deep is your love, you know? But I always have respect and love for Nicki.”
On this summer:
- “I got other songs coming out this summer, too, just stuff that I got in the stash. By the time we get to tour I’m gonna have an arsenal of songs that don’t have anything to do with Views that are ready to be performed.”
