Lil Nas X Says Drake And Nicki Minaj Aren’t On ‘Montero’ For Good Reasons

After a months-long gestation and a slew of mild controversies, Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero has finally arrived. The album turned out to be a star-studded affair, with appearances from major names like Doja Cat, Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus. However, one pair of prominent names were missing from the final tracklist, although according to Nas, it wasn’t from lack of effort on his part. During the triumphant young artist’s recent interview with New York’s The Breakfast Club, he revealed which stars were missing and explained their absences.

He explained that despite reaching out to both Drake and Nicki Minaj, he was unable to secure their features. “No reply from Nicki, Drake was still working on [Certified Lover Boy].” Nas accounted for Drake’s rejection by pointing out how busy he was on his own album. “Drake replied, ’cause you know Gee Roberson’s my manager,” he said. “Drake and Gee are cool. And he was still working on Certified Lover Boy and whatnot and he was 100 percent focused on that. This was like a few weeks ago and I understood completely, and he said he’s down to do something but [it was] just not the right time. He was trying to get his own sh*t together.”

When asked which song he wanted Drake on, Nas’ answer, “Dolla Sign Slime,” prompted some light roasting from Charlamagne, who wondered, “‘Slime’ is gang slang. Is Nas in a gang? Is Nas banging?” Ever the diplomat, Nas replied simply, “Next question,” with a shy grin. The hosts took a minute to educate him on the slang’s origins after he explained how it’s meaning has expanded for Gen Z — it’s a pretty funny moment.

Watch Lil Nas X’s interview with The Breakfast Club above.

Montero is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.

Lil Durk Gives Drake Rap’s Ultimate Title

Chicago rapper Lil Durk is revealing who he thinks is actually the greatest ever. He went to his Instagram Story to give 6 God Drake credit and give him rap’s ultimate crown. Lil Durk Gives Drake Rap’s Ultimate Title Durkio says that Drizzy is the legit GOAT – no cap. He shared a Billboard post […]

Drake’s Dad Wants Everyone To Salute His Son For Doing The Unthinkable

OVO Sound boss Drake’s dad is big proud. Dennis Graham has come forward to acknowledge his son’s massive Certified Lover Boy success notably on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Drake’s Dad Wants Everyone To Show Respect DG hit up Instagram to geek out over his son’s accomplishment. Graham acknowledged CLB’s song are all over the […]

Drake’s Alternate ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Covers Offer Some More Straightforward Takes On The Theme

When Drake first revealed the cheeky, emoji-laden cover concept for his new album Certified Lover Boy, many fans weren’t sure if he was joking. Despite reportedly being designed by renowned modern artist Damien Hirst, the cover — which featured a symmetrical pattern of pregnant woman emojis in different skin tones and shirt colors — was derided by fans as being lazy and ridiculous. It also spawned a jaw-dropping, eye-rolling run of similarly themed memes, including one from Lil Nas X changing the emojis’ genders to fit his Montero announcement, but none of that stopped the album from going No. 1 on Billboard‘s album chart, so I guess Drake gets the last laugh.

Except that Drake always seems to be in on the joke, which means he probably knew the troll-ish cover was likely to annoy his fans — if anything, that may have been its intent, considering how closely tied Drake’s rollout was to Kanye’s, which culminated a week earlier in the release of Donda. Today, Drake has been sharing some alternate cover designs on his Instagram, including their designers’ information. In addition to providing a peek at what some more straightforward takes on the album’s theme would have looked like, the trove also gives those fans who were miffed or turned off by the emoji cover to replace it with some less goofy options in their personal music libraries.

Included in the designs are works from veteran comics illustrator Milo Manara, photographer Luis Mora, and a gussied-up second pass of Hirst’s original. Check out Drake’s alternate Certified Lover Boy covers below.

Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Makes History By Having Nine Of The Top Ten Songs On The Hot 100 Chart

Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy is a truly unprecedented commercial success. Over the weekend, it was revealed the album debuted at No. 1 with the biggest week of the year so far, and now the album is dominating the Billboard Hot 100 chart in ways the music world has never seen. The top ten spots of the chart were revealed today, and of those ten, nine of them are songs from Certified Lover Boy. Drake is now the first artist to ever have nine top-ten songs in the same week.

Debuting at No. 1 is Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug. After that is “Girls Want Girls” featuring Lil Baby at No. 2, “Fair Trade” featuring Travis Scott at No. 3, “Champagne Poetry” at No. 4, “Knife Talk” featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat at No. 5, “In The Bible” featuring Lil Durk and Giveon at No. 7, “Papi’s Home” at No. 8, “TSU” at No. 9, and “Love All” featuring Jay-Z at No. 1o. The only non-Drake song in this week’s top ten is The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay.” Overall, all 21 songs from Certified Lover Boy debut in the top 40 of this week’s chart.

This list of records that this sets is extensive, even beyond the aforementioned accolades. Certified Lover Boy has more top-ten songs than any album in history; Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, and Drake’s own Scorpion all have seven top-ten songs on the Hot 100.

Furthermore, Drake and The Beatles are now the only two artists to ever dominate the entire top five spots of the chart. Drake’s total of five songs to debut at No. 1 ties Ariana Grande for the most ever. Drake has also extended his records for the most career top-ten songs (54), most top-40 hits (140), and total Hot 100 entries (258).

Jay-Z’s Drake Feature Earns His First Top-10 Hit Since Beyonce’s ‘Drunk In Love’

Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy, which unsurprisingly debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, also holds the historical distinction of making him the first artist to have nine top-ten songs on the Hot 100 chart in the same week. However, Drake isn’t the only one to benefit from this achievement; Billboard also reports that Jay-Z, who appears on “Love All,” also collects another career milestone: His 22nd career top-10 hit.

Jay-Z and Mariah Carey — who were both recently the subjects of a (refuted) rumor about them falling out — now share the distinction of being the only artists with top 10 hits in the ’90s, ’00s, ’10s, and ’20s. it’s also Jay’s first top-10 since appearing on his wife Beyonce’s 2013 hit “Drunk In Love,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Incidentally, he actually would have had his 23rd top-10 hit had his feature on Kanye West’s Donda been credited as such — since his name doesn’t appear on the official tracklisting for “Jail,” he apparently had to wait a week for his latest feature to count. Jay was among an array of artists who appeared on both albums, drawing a fair amount of attention and prompting a Twitter trending topic thanks to his close proximity to both.