Drake

Joint Hip-Hop Albums: The Best, Ranked

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Joint hip-hop albums are much more common than they are in other genres. For example, rapper Future has done quite a few collaborative projects. Hip-hop is a collaborative genre, so these records aren’t uncommon. Arguably, joint albums have often superseded an artist standing alone. Here, we’re looking at some of rap’s best collisions in the studio.

7. Super Slimey – Future & Young Thug (2017)

Super Slimey showcases two of the most influential trap artists of all time. Future and Young Thug have both inspired later generations of rappers and, before doing this project, already cemented themselves as some of the all-time greats. Their joint work wasn’t a groundbreaking record, nor was it either of their best work. Nevertheless, seeing (or hearing) these two artists, who have produced so many iconic songs together, put out a full-length project was excellent.

6. Drip Harder– Lil Baby & Gunna (2018)

Lil Baby and Gunna were a match made in heaven, and that shows on Drip Harder. The collaborative project has these two arguably in their best shape. Neither has produced a solo album quite as good as this one. Perhaps they’re better together than they are apart. There are a lot of excellent tracks on this, such as “Belly,” “Never Recover,” “Drip Too Hard,” and “Business is Business.”

5. What A Time To Be Alive – Future & Drake (2015)

What A Time To Be Alive features two of the most iconic rappers from this age. Many consider Drake the greatest rapper working right now, and there’s no way to tell the story of hip-hop without including a heavy dose of Future. These artists have linked up for many great songs, but their joint album was a true work of art. Even eight years later, the project still stands up in their vast discographies. It’s a short album with only 11 tracks. However, what they sacrificed in length, they more than made up for with quality. There’s hardly a skip on the entire project.

4. Kids See Ghosts – Kanye West & Kid Cudi (2018)

In 2018, it was a big year for joint hip-hop albums. Several other entries on this list were put out that year, but the best and most interesting one was Kanye West (now known simply as Ye) and Kid Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts. This project or a sequel couldn’t happen today due to the conflict between the artists and the never-ending controversy with Ye. However, it stands as one of the most unique collaborations in hip-hop history.

It’s full of excellent songs despite only featuring seven tracks. They’re all unique and find a way to stand out. While both of these artists have legendary discographies, and it’s easy to forget they worked together, this album is still worth revisiting today. It’s not either of their best works, but it is each artist’s most distinctive.

3. Watch the Throne – Kanye West & Jay-Z (2011)

Watch the Throne is one of the earlier examples of a joint album between hip-hop artists. While they existed much earlier than 2011, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s crossover helped set the standard and bring collaborative records into the mainstream. While it’s not Jay-Z’s album of the same name, it is the “blueprint” for how joint hip-hop albums should work. These two worked in perfect tandem and produced iconic songs. Hip-hop would not be the same today if Jay and Ye didn’t decide to come together for one of the best albums of the 21st century. For that alone, it’s one of the best joint hip-hop albums ever.

2. Pluto x Baby Pluto– Future & Lil Uzi Vert (2020)

Understandably, 2020 was a pretty down year for music and the arts. However, it produced some incredible albums like folklore from Taylor Swift and The Weeknd’s After Hours. It also gave music fans an incredible joint album from Future and Lil Uzi Vert. These two came together for Pluto x Baby Pluto, a seminal work for collaborations.

It’s longer than many projects on this list, but it doesn’t suffer for it. All 16 tracks fare well, with songs like “Off Dat,” “That’s It,” “Plastic,” and “Bought A Bad B****” standing out. What’s even better is that the deluxe version adds a few more songs and two great collaborative tracks (“Patek” and “Over Your Head”) released long before this record.

1. Without Warning – 21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin’ (2017)

A list of the best collaborative albums in hip-hop cannot exclude 2017’s Without Warning. The surprise project released in late October is one of the best from the entire year. It features songs that people still frequently listen to today. For Offset, this is easily his best work. It could very well be 21 Savage’s, too.

Metro Boomin’ is arguably the best producer in the industry today, and he has a few albums of his own. This genuinely might be his best. The members of Migos have often had a tough time venturing into projects outside the group, but this is excellent work from Offset. 21 Savage, a frequent collaborator with Metro Boomin’, is as good as ever here, too.

The Drake & The Weeknd AI-Generated Song Was Removed From DSPs After A Statement From Universal Music Group

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drake and the weeknd
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It was fun while it lasted, but it looks like the era of AI-generated reproductions of rappers’ voices online is already facing its end. As I predicted a couple of months ago, it only took the right/wrong artist being unwillingly exploited for profit before the labels stepped in, shutting down some of the more notable tracks.

“Heart On My Sleeve,” one such track that had gone viral after being posted on DSPs, was the subject of a takedown request by Universal Music Group, which had it pulled from streamers. The track garnered attention for pairing the voices of Canadian artists Drake and The Weeknd for a song about The Weeknd’s ex Selena Gomez; it was a reunion of sorts for two artists who were once a dynamic duo but have since seemingly kept each other at arm’s length after a falling out.

Drake, it should be noted, wasn’t laughing when an AI-generated cover of his voice rapping Ice Spice’s “Munch” came to his attention. It’s just one of many fan-created joke tracks, which even include a phony Eminem verse on a David Guetta song.

And while proponents said “Heart On My Sleeve,” created by anonymous TikToker ghostwriter977, sounded just like something the two performers would actually make, detractors derided the song for only doing so on a surface level, throwing in additional criticism for listeners who praised it, calling them nothing short of racist for downplaying the true creativity that goes into hip-hop (you don’t see, for instance, AI-generated pop-punk or country music going viral for sounding “authentic”).

In a statement to Billboard, UMG decried the practice of generative AI copies of artists’ vocals, saying:

The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation. We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.

And hey, look: The irony of a major label complaining about “denying artists their due compensation” is not lost on me here. (Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.) But they’ve got a point: AI doesn’t just cut out the middleman (in this case, the labels), it also cuts out artists, who don’t get a say in the sort of subjects these fan-generated AI reproductions will ultimately indulge in (it’s only a matter of time until someone turns Kanye’s borderline neo-Nazi rants into a song, sung by an artist like Beyoncé or Rihanna). So, it’s probably best someone steps in sooner rather than later — at least to get some sort of legal framework in place so artists have recourse when they’re inevitably “forced” to “say” something they never said.

Drake’s New Kim Kardashian-Sampling Song ‘Search & Rescue’ Debuted At No. 2 On The Hot 100

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Drake
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Drake is no stranger to Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and his newest song, the Kim Kardashian-sampling “Search & Rescue,” continues his tradition of chart dominance. However, he just missed out on the top spot this time around, as Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” took the No. 1 position, leaving Drake to settle for No. 2. The rest of the top 10 includes No. 3, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” No. 4, SZA’s “Kill Bill” (this figures to change next week thanks to Doja Cat’s remix), and No. 5, Metro Boomin’s “Creepin.”

The remaining five songs in the top ten are Rema & Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down,” The Weeknd & Ariana Grande’s “Die For You,” PinkPantheress & Ice Spice’s “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2,” Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” and Eslabon Armando X Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola.”

Drake’s Billboard history is quite extensive; in November last year, he tied Jay-Z for most No. 1s on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart thanks to his collaboration with 21 Savage, Her Loss. That album was his 11th No. 1 on the Billboard 200 overall, while in August, Drake again passed The Beatles for a significant milestone, acquiring his 30th top five song with “Staying Alive” by DJ Khaled. He’s since put some distance between his high watermark and the next most-awarded artist, Madonna, who has 28.

When Drake first teased “Search & Rescue,” some fans interpreted it as a taunt aimed at Kanye West due to the sample of Kanye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian on the record. The sample, taken from Keeping Up With The Kardashians, specifically refers to the couple’s then-impending divorce. “I didn’t come this far just to come this far and not be happy,” she says in the clip. Drake’s dad Dennis Graham chimed in to deny that it was a shot across Kanye’s bow, and Kany has yet to respond.

The full Billboard charts for the week ending April 15, 2023 are out now on Billboard.com.

“Chicken Shop Date” Host Amelia Dimoldenberg Recalls Drake DMing Her: Watch

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Over the weekend, Drake made headlines as he was caught double-tapping and commenting on a bikini selfie from Amelia Dimoldenberg. Rather than sparking speculation about a romance between the journalist and rapper, the not-so-subtle interaction caused fans to fill with excitement over the potential of him appearing on her Chicken Shop Date series. In the past, Dimoldenberg has interviewed the likes of Central Cee, Jack Harlow, and countless others, but Drizzy is at the very top of her dream guest list. Now that he’s publicly showing love to the media personality, it’s safe to assume something is in the works between them.

Following that, a video appeared on the official @chickenshopdate TikTok account, with Dimoldenberg speaking with two friends about the time Drake slid in her DMs. “He’s like my number one person to get on the show,” she confesses in the clip. “It was maybe gonna happen… So I was at my birthday party, and then I was looking through my phone. All of a sudden, I see like, @champagnepapi.” The birthday girl was left in total shock by the message request from the 36-year-old, who thought it was a fake account at first.

Drake Slides in Amelia Dimoldenberg’s DMs

@chickenshopdate

It was God’s Plan. 🙏

♬ original sound – Chicken Shop Date 💕

The message apparently read, “Chicken Shop Date in Harrods?” In response, Dimoldenberg casually wrote back, “Let me check my schedule.” Drake got back to her “straight away,” sending over some laughing emojis. “Then we were like, messaging over the course of the week,” the blonde entertainer told her friends. “Organizing the date, I had planned a shop and went to see [it]. Got a producer, we organized security,” she recalled, stressing the amount of planning that goes into executing each one of her episodes.

When asked if she became more at ease while her conversation with Drake flowed, the 29-year-old admitted that she spent time calculating each one of her messages. “I was also like, saying way too many puns and jokes, which is really bad,” she sheepishly added. “I think I ended the message with like, ‘I hope to see you soon. God’s Plan.‘ It was just so bad. And then he messaged me saying, ‘Oh, I’m really sorry, but I’m not coming to London anymore.’” Would you like to see Amelia Dimoldenberg and Drizzy together on Chicken Shop Date? Let us know below, and check back later for more pop culture news.

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Lil Yachty Calls Drake’s Tupac-Playing Toilets “So Annoying” In Kai Cenat Stream

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They say money can’t buy happiness. That doesn’t seem to be the truth for Drake, who’s certainly managed to fit the absolute best of everything into his mansion – including singing toilets. The father of one didn’t flex the unique feature himself. Instead, his good pal, Lil Yachty dished about it during his recent appearance on Kai Cenat’s internet show. The latter duo discussed a multitude of interesting topics, from DDG’s diss track to using the bathroom at Drizzy’s. This is something that the Georgia-born lyricist describes as “so annoying” now that he’s done it enough times.

“Every bathroom in his house has heated seats,” Yachty shared during the stream. Aside from that luxury, the toilets also play one of Tupac’s most famous diss tracks while in use. “And every bathroom in his house, when you walk up to the toilet, it opens and starts playing 2Pac’s ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’” Lil Boat alleged. “I swear to God! Every time it’s like, ‘Yeah, you fat muthaf*cka!’ It’s so annoying when you gotta take a shit ’cause it keeps looping.”

Lil Yachty Spills Secrets About Drake’s Home

He’s had the pleasure of relieving himself at Drake’s house “several” times. However, Yachty noted that he’s yet to use every bathroom on the Canadian’s property. At this time, there are minimum “eight or nine” thrones he hasn’t christened, but that will surely change as his long-standing bromance with his “Oprah’s Bank Account” collaborator continues. While certainly laughable, the 36-year-old’s Tupac tribute isn’t exactly surprising. He’s previously expressed love for the late rhymer on various occasions.

Specifically, he spent an astounding $600K on two chains in 2020, both of them depicting the West Coast legend – one with gold and red accents, the other silver and blue. Aside from that ‘Pac was also Drake’s most-listened-to artist of 2022 in his annual Spotify wrapped. He spent 246 minutes of the year streaming the multi-talent’s discography, which placed him in the top seven percent of fans. Tune into Kai Cenat’s full live stream with Lil Yachty below, and share your thoughts on Champagne Papi’s unique bathroom setup in the comments.

Watch Kai Cenat’s Full Stream

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Drake & The Weeknd’s Artificial Intelligence Collab Includes Bars About Selena Gomez

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Usually, rappers only have their contemporaries to worry about as competition. Now, they’re facing the threat of artificial intelligence more fiercely than ever before. In recent weeks, a slew of videos have surfaced online, unveiling what our favourite artists would sound like singing songs from other people’s discographies thanks to the power of computer technology. Some programs are even penning new lyrics and putting vocals from artists like Drake and The Weeknd behind them to generate authentic-sounding fake singles that have been generating plenty of buzz online.

As HipHopDX notes, Friday (April 14), saw a YouTube account called ghostwriter upload a track called “heart on my sleeve.” They described it as a “Drake AI song featuring The Weeknd.” Over the beat, we hear a voice eerily similar to Drizzy’s name-dropping a fellow Canadian and his beauty guru ex-girlfriend. “I came in with my ex like Selena to flex / Bumping Justin Bieber the fever ain’t left / She know all she need, I need her she blessed, giving her my best,” the lyrics begin. “I got my heart on my sleeve with a knife in my back what’s with that? / (Aye) 21, I love him that my brother that’s my slatt,” Drake’s verse continues.

The Weeknd and Drake Come Together via AI

For The Weeknd’s part, he also sings about Selena Gomez, who he previously dated. “Got these pearls on my neck, got these girls on my check like Selena baby / Oh my genie maybe yeah, she taking the Lambo for a drive using the fancy door,” The Idol star’s AI voice rings out. “When she went out the store, I throw my heart on my sleeve.” For many artists, hearing their source of revenue recreated so effortlessly online is certainly jarring, to say the least.

The Scorpion hitmaker experienced it earlier this week as well. At the time, he heard himself rapping Ice Spice’s “Munch (Feelin’ U)” thanks to modern technology. Champagne Papi shared it on his Instagram Story, giving many of his millions of followers a laugh. If hearing The Weeknd and Drake on a song together has you feeling nostalgic for their past collaborations, revisit fan favourites like “The Zone” or “Crew Love” below.

Revisit the Canadian Artists’ Real Collaborative Efforts Below

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Drake Caught Commenting On “Chicken Shop Date” Host Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Bikini Photos

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Drake has been a busy man as of late, between making surprise appearances at various festivals and preparing to tour with 21 Savage, he hasn’t had much time to himself. However, it seems the father of one may be making time for at least one special lady – Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date fame. The comedic journalist kicked off Hot Girl Summer a bit early with some beautiful bikini photos shared to her Instagram feed on Thursday (April 13), and she obviously caught the Canadian rapper’s eye with them, as he didn’t hesitate to leave an interesting comment.

“Chups,” the Her Loss hitmaker wrote under the carousel of Dimoldenberg flaunting her toned midsection and cheeky behind. Her caption reads “Felt cute, might delete later🌴,” though a seal of approval from Champagne Papi himself is certainly reason enough to never archive the post. Many other IG users were left confused by Drake’s one-worded reply to the internet star’s thirst traps, but others confirmed that it’s Jamaican slang for “[a] small kiss, or what some may refer to as a peck.” Though endearing, the message doesn’t seem to be sparking relationship rumours – rather, it has fans hoping the Canadian will be making an appearance on CSD in the near future.

Amelia is Ready for Hot Girl Summer

“STAY AWAY FROM HER. GET A JOB,” one user jokingly wrote to Drake. “👀 Is it gonna happen?!?!!?!?” another obviously excited person asked, though a clear response has yet to be given. Seeing as the 36-year-old declared in his latest IG upload that “SS23 is all [him],” it wouldn’t be surprising to see him appear on one of the internet’s favourite online shows. While she’s only just now gaining serious traction and connecting with some of the industry’s biggest names, Dimoldenberg’s YouTube channel actually got its start in 2014.

She initially interviewed local rappers, actors, and Premier League athletes, but as she grew, the opportunities only became more noteworthy. Recent stars to appear on Chicken Shop Date include Canadian country icon Shania Twain, lyrical superstar Central Cee, and R&B starlet Kehlani. Drake would surely be Amelia Dimoldenberg’s biggest guest to date if the interview comes to fruition – fingers crossed we get to see it happen. See the “Over” artist’s interesting comment below, and check back later for any updates.

Drake Shows Some Not-so-Subtle Love

@ameliadimz/Instagram

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Drake Responded To An AI Version Of Him Rapping Ice Spice’s ‘Munch (Feelin’ U),’ And It Was Indeed As Sassy As You’d Think

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Drake may be in his “sassy” era, but still, even some things are off-limits for him. The “Search & Rescue” rapper laughed off a hilarious mix-up of him with another rapper but didn’t find a new AI-generated version of him rapping along to Ice Spice’s viral song “Munch (Feelin’ U).

Late last night, the Bronx native released her highly anticipated collaboration with fellow Young Money representative Nicki Minaj. As “Princess Diana (Remix)” began to gain streams, simultaneously, the AI-generated track started to creep back on the users’ timelines. Word of the AI cover eventually got back to the rapper, and he was not at all amused. Taking to his Instagram stories, the musician shared a screengrab of The Shade Room’s reporting with the caption, “This is the final straw AI.”

It is unclear if the entertainer was being sarcastic or truly upset at the fact that an off-brand version of his likeness was being used for cooking up the unauthorized song. But maybe the party responsible for the track could make it up to the rapper by giving it another go this time recording at Drake’s own home studio.

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Instagram/Drake

Listen to the full AI-generated track below.

In November, rumors began to circulate that the two were feuding, but Ice Spice has since cleared up the rumors, stating that they are “still cool,” despite the slight shade Drake threw on his track “BackOutsideBoyz.”