Drake

Kawhi Leonard Had A Cameo In The Video For Drake’s ‘Way 2 Sexy,’ And Basketball Fans Lost It

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Drake

NBA players are extremely into Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. The album, his first since 2018, has been in the works for years, and the early returns from people in the Association could not be more positive.

One player managed to get a little closer to the project than anyone else. Kawhi Leonard, who famously brought an NBA championship to Drake’s beloved Toronto Raptors before heading to Los Angeles to play for the Clippers, had a cameo in the video for Way 2 Sexy alongside Future and Young Thug, who both have have features on the track.

Leonard loves music, as evidenced by his recent Culture Jam project, but it was still a surprise to see him pop up in a music video where he dances alongside Drake, Future, and Young Thug in all-white outfits. Between that and the fact that he just stood there, vibes absolutely immaculate, and seemed to have a terrific time, basketball fans took to Twitter and had some fun.

While this is his only appearance on anything related to the album, it’s not the only time he’s mentioned. Drake name drops Leonard on The Remorse, making 100 percent clear that he (like every Raptors fan, really) wouldn’t hate it if Leonard ever decided to leave L.A. and come back to the 6.

Leonard just signed a max extension with the Clippers, but hey, maybe the time will be right for a reunion in a few years.

Don’t Tell Kanye West, Chicago’s Mayor Shows Drake’s ‘CLB’ Big Love

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Chicago’s Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot might be supportive of rap star Kanye West‘s Donda album but today she’s completely riding with Certified Lover Boy wave. The 56th may of Chi-Town has shown a major salute to Ye’s rap rival Drake in celebration of his new studio album. Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot Salutes Drake’s ‘CLB’ Lightfoot’s […]

Drake, Future, Young Thug + Kawhi Leonard Body ‘Way 2 Sexy’ Video

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OVO Sound boss Drake is having the time of his life and showing it on the screen. The hip-hop superstar has come through with the immediate visual treatment to his “Way 2 Sexy” music video with help from Future, Young Thug and former Toronto Raptors champion Kawhi Leonard. Drake, Future, Young Thug + Kawhi Leonard’s […]

Drake’s ‘Way 2 Sexy’ Video With Future And Young Thug Hilariously Lampoons Pop Fantasies

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In the “Way 2 Sexy” video, Drake lampoons pop culture’s ideals of sex appeal through the decades, transforming himself into such archetypes as a harlequin romance hero, an action movie star, and even giving himself a dad bod. Drake loves superimposing his head onto other peoples’ bodies in his videos, but this time, he actually uses this proclivity to great, hilarious effect, as the video concept ties nicely into the overall goofy vibe of the Right Said Fred sample on the beat and his, Future, and Young Thug‘s playful lyrics. There’s even a mid-video break for a fake ad for a Drake fragrance called “Wet,” which is such a perfect distillation of everything Drake represents.

The “Way 2 Sexy” video caps the triumphant rollout for Certified Lover Boy, which appears to be a success despite being pushed back over eight months from its initial projected release date in January. The album, which contains features from 21 Savage, Giveon, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Project Pat, and Travis Scott (among many, many others), has been a hot topic on Twitter as fans speculate on whether Drake takes more shots at Kanye, express confusion at some of his more questionable rhymes, and joke around about Jay-Z appearing on both Drake and his rival Kanye’s albums.

Watch Drake, Future, And Young Thug’s hilarious ‘Way 2 Sexy’ video above.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO and Republic. You can stream it here.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

NBA Players Couldn’t Get Enough Of Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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Drake dropped his first full-length album since Scorpion in the early hours of Friday morning. Despite being in the works since 2019 and an original release date of January 2021 that had to get pushed back, Certified Lover Boy hit streaming services at 2 a.m., and in the hours after its release, NBA players made clear that they loves the latest project from the world’s most famous Toronto Raptors fan.

Some players were actually a bit annoyed about the timing of the release, with Donovan Mitchell and Mikal Bridges making clear they were expecting it to drop right at midnight.

While this was a pretty common sentiment among those who wanted to listen to the record right when the calendar turned to Sept. 3, there was plenty of excitement over Certified Lover Boy, and once people got to listen, NBA players were unified in thinking Drake released one of the albums of the year.

One player seemed to enjoy it so much that he stirred up a little controversy, as Trae Young antagonized the city of New York for the first time since the 2021 playoffs by asking the Twitterverse whether or not Drake has passed Jay-Z.

Young eventually made clear he was just asking as someone whose all-time favorite rapper is Hov.

Fans Have All The Jokes For Jay-Z After Appearing On Both Drake And Kanye’s Albums

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It’s no secret that Drake and Kanye West haven’t been on the best of terms in the last few years. Both men released albums just a week apart whose primary rollout strategies seemed to consist mostly of the two trying to out-troll each other (which kinda worked, considering the streaming numbers and Twitter chatter both have generated so far). Meanwhile, it’s also pretty widely accepted that Jay-Z is one of if not the greatest of all time in rap, so scoring an appearance from him is tantamount to having Michael Jordan bless your hoop career.

So it’s pretty funny that both Donda, which dropped last week, and Certified Lover Boy, which came out earlier this morning, both prominently feature verses from the Brooklyn business mogul, despite Kanye and Drake fighting like two cats in a sack for the past several months (or rather, sniping at each other like Love & Hip-Hop cast members at a reunion special, take your pick). At least, the denizens of Rap Twitter seem to think so, breaking out the jokes and the memes to point out Hov’s split loyalties.

Interestingly enough, the situation is somewhat similar to one involving two of these personalities nearly 20 years ago. Kanye once found himself bridging the gap between Jay-Z and his erstwhile rival Nas at the height of their feud over the “King Of New York” title, producing beats for both men’s albums including the infamous “Takeover” diss from Jay to Nas. Perhaps Jay sees himself playing the vital role Kanye played back then, having the age and experience to make amends with Nas in the meantime (although you could argue things haven’t always been exactly peaceful between them). Who knows? Until then, have a laugh at some of the many, many Twitter jokes about the situation below.

R. Kelly Has A Writing Credit On Drake’s New Album ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy has been out for a few hours now, and between its release and now, fans have been carefully examining the project. That sleuthing has led to an eyebrow-raising discovery: R. Kelly has a writing credit on the album.

Along with Drake, the artists credited as writers on the song “TSU” include Harley Arsenault, Noel Cadastre, F. Hills, Timothy Mosley (aka Timbaland), Ronald Coleman (aka OG Ron C), Christopher Cross, Justin Timberlake, and Robert Kelly (aka R. Kelly).

As Genius notes, the song samples NSYNC’s 1997 song “Sailing,” a cover of Cross’ 1980 single. Furthermore, others have pointed out the song also samples Timberlake’s “Until The End Of Time,” which Timbaland co-wrote. According to WhoSampled, the song also samples Kelly’s 1998 song “Half On A Baby,” which is where his writing credit comes from.

It was reported recently that Kelly is attempting to sell the publishing rights to his back catalog. If somebody purchased the rights, Kelly would not profit from his song being sampled on “TSU.” However, it appears Kelly is struggling to find a buyer, so as it stands now, Kelly still owns his publishing rights and will therefore profit from “TSU,” which is becoming a much-discussed song on one of the year’s biggest albums.

Of course, Kelly has faced many allegations of sexual misconduct in recent years. Most recently, an alleged male victim of sexual exploitation by Kelly testified in court.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Fans Think Drake Slams Kanye West On The ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Song ‘7am On Bridle Path’

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It was reported recently that Kanye West was ready to fire back at Drake if Drake dissed him on his new album, Certified Lover Boy. Well, the album is out now, and it appears West may have some feuding to do, as fans think Drake addresses him on “7am On Bridle Path.”

First, there’s this lyric:

“You over there in denial, we not neck and neck
It’s been a lot of years since we seen you comin’ correct
Man, f*ck a ‘Respectfully,’ I just want my respect
They tried to label me mean, I say what I mean
People that could’ve stayed on the team
They played in-between.”

If those lines are about West, the first two could be interpreted as Drake alleging that West has fallen off in terms of the quality of his musical output. Furthermore, “Respectfully” may be a reference to Justin Laboy (aka Respectfully Justin), whose name popped up during the Donda rollout.

The song later continues:

“Give that address to your driver, make it your destination
‘Stead of just a post out of desperation
This me reachin’ the deepest state of my meditation
While you over there tryna impress the nation
Mind’s runnin’ wild with the speculation.”

The “address” line is an apparent reference to when West recently shared Drake’s address on Instagram. Bridle Path, by the way, is the name of the Toronto neighborhood where Drake lives.

Drake then seems to address his and West’s repeated reconciliations over the years and how their cease fires haven’t lasted for long: “Why the f*ck we peacemakin’, doin’ the explanations / If we just gon’ be right back in that b*tch without hesitation?”

Listen to “7am On Bridle Path” above and check out some reactions to the song below.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.