- You know, for me right now, personally I'm blessed.
It's a great time.
It's a great time in my career and in my life.
I put a lot of stuff together.
As far as family goes
and everybody is just in a real positive head space.
You know, to come around Young Money, man,
it's always fun.
You know?
Right now, it's just for me, it's about being humble.
And it's just about keeping relationships up with everybody
and just, you know letting everybody know that
no matter how big this gets, I'm always here, you know?
And I know that Wayne gave me a shot
and a lot of these people embraced me
when I showed up that first day.
So, you know, I owe them.
I owe them that much to stay as grounded as I can.
So yeah, I mean we always laugh.
We always have fun.
Young Money's a great family to be apart of, definitely.
As far as ‘So Far Gone’ goes,
I'm still in awe and I'm still humbled again
by the amount of people that
took the time to download it,
listen to it,
quote it,
put lines in their
Twitters and Facebooks and all that stuff.
It's something I'm very taken aback by,
you know?
Because I used to
be so self-conscious about the strikes against me.
Like, you know, coming from Canada
and being on a TV show
and being like, you know, super light-skinned.
You know, you're just be like, "Is this gonna work?"
But now it just gives me a chance to really accept that
I am something different.
I am something new
and now it's just, I see it more as an opportunity
to really be like well,
"maybe I don't have to be the next Ye
or I don't have to be the next Wayne.
I could just be the first Drake."
You know, and I think that's
something I'm happy about.
And ‘So Far Gone’ itself,
was me really doing something I felt was necessary.
I wanted to give fans
information about myself
before we embark on this journey together.
Before I make this album.
Before I give them product
that they have to really support or go out and buy.
I wanted to gain their loyalty
by telling them a little bit about my life
and I wanted to make sure I did it for free.
It took us about, I'd say, about six months.
Maybe a little under that
Yeah, it spawned from a conversation
that just made me realize
you know, I'm 22 years old.
I really don't know everything.
You know, I have so much to learn.
Really, I kinda learned what I was striving for in life.
Like, you know, to find love
and like, what are all these interactions
with women is about.
And then, you know,
to obtain the money
to live comfortably and know how to deal with it, you know?
And so, for a 22 year old kid,
you know, in high pressure situations all the time,
it can cause you to make a mix tape,
like that.
(laughter)
Yeah man, it's a great piece though,
even just to have for me.
Even if nobody listens to it.
Even if everybody is like,
"This shit is weird.
I don't know what your trying to do."
For me it's like,
it was such an essential picture
in my scrapbook, you know?
So I'm glad I did it, definitely.
I gotta great situation in the works.
You know, it should be coming to the light
in about a week or so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know,
we just gotta work out the lil' clinks and clanks, you know?
But every thing's great.
You know, I'm honored to be
in the presence of two of the greatest managers in the game.
You know, Cortez Bryant who manages Lil Wayne
and Gee Roberson who manages Kanye West
and now, you know, together.
I met Jas Prince on Myspace actually.
He would just reach out to me
before I had you know,
a lot of this mix tape stuff done.
Especially this one
but even before with the other one,
‘Come Back Season’.
He would reach out to me and just be like,
"Yo man, I like your music."
You know, and he kept consistent contact,
even when I had no clue who he was.
Yeah like, you know, I was just like,
"Man, this guy’s persistent."
You know?
And I did my research
and found out he way J. Prince's son.
You know, coming from a legacy of
amazing hip hop in Houston.
Amazing rap music so
you know, we started talking more and more
and he was letting me know
that he was around Wayne a lot.
So I would sometimes be like,
"Yo, you know Wayne's gotta hear my stuff, you know?"
and he's like, "Yeah"
he's like, "Yeah, he does."
So he came to me
and he was like,
He's like, "Yo, I’m gonna get Wayne to hear ya stuff."
And you know, months went by
and so he finally,
you know, I got a call from his number.
I was getting a haircut.
So I picked up the phone
and I was like, "Hello."
and he was like, "What's up this is Weezy."
Ya know?
and I was just like, "What?"
I was like, "Who?"
He's like, "Yo what's up, this is Weezy"
I was like, "Okay."
and he's like, "Yo man, just heard your stuff and
you know, you gotta get down her to Houston.
I gotta talk to you
about what's going on with you.
And you know, I need you on my team."
So he's like, "Can you fly out tonight?"
So anyway, you know, there were no flights that night.
I flew out the next morning
and Jas told me
that he was in the car with Wayne
and he was like, "Yo Wayne,
did you ever listen to that Drake?"
Wayne was like, "Yeah, you know, it's wack."
Like, "I don't really like it."
So I guess they kept rollin
and Jas was like, "Yo did you really listen to that?"
and he's like, "Nah Nah, I didn't listen to it."
and he's like, "Yo, lettme play you some"
So Wayne let him play, you know, a couple songs
and then that's where that phone call was birthed from.
That all might be a lie by the way.
- [Interviewer] What might be a lie?
Just the whole story.
You know, I wasn't there.
(laughter)
Jas could've actually, that never could've happened so.
(laughter)
Yeah, yeah, you know, but hey, it sounds good so yeah.
And then here we are, you know?
Me and Wayne have become a staple duo on records
and for that I'm honored.
You know, Young Angel and Young Lion
that's what I always say, so.
You know, I write, I really write.
You know, like Wayne does this thing that is scary
and it's unfair
and I'm jealous of it
for a million years.
He sits there and I'll be playing a record
and he'll just sit there like this
and you know, kinda be like chillin'.
He might get up and eat some candy
and you know, do whatever he does
and then,
and you know
it'll take
40 minutes
maybe if that,
sometimes 15
and then he'll do this.
And go like that and hop up
and head right for the booth
and lay like one or two or three
of the most amazing verses that you've ever heard
with lines that it's like, "What just happened?
Did you just make a movie in your head?”
Like what just happened?
You know?
“'cause you just painted the most colorful picture
for this record."
Wayne is so good at that man.
Like, I'm in awe of that dude you know?
And that's why I'm proud to call him a mentor.
But for me, I take my time.
I write.
It's just about me getting my thoughts out.
You know, Wayne told me something really important one day.
I told him, I said,
"How do you find those thoughts so quick?"
He said, "It's not about
making things up.
You don't have to worry about making things up.
If you're really writing from an honest perspective
your thoughts are in there,
you just have to locate them."
So he's like, "You shouldn't stress about making up
witty stuff.
You know, it's not about that.
It's just about finding how you really feel
and locating it and then just saying it.
Like, you're a rapper, so you know how to make it rhyme."
You know, so, when he told me that
that's kind of where I get my influence with Wayne from.
It's like, you know, just saying things
that people wouldn't normally be able to transfer
from mind to mouth.
'Cause that's where a lot of normal human beings
lose a lot of color.
When they thing something
and then they have to say it.
You know, it loses that clarity.
The best rappers, you know,
Andre 3000, Kanye West, Jay Z,
Wayne,
G-Eazy,
you know, sometimes G-Eazy says some real (click sound)
Yeah, so those guys, that's why they're the best rappers.
Mind to mouth they don't lose it.
There's no buffering process.
Like, it just comes out.
So, I mean I just tryin' sort of follow that structure.
And you know, I just take a little more time.
I write in my Blackberry
and I go online to research things,
like, if I need to.
You know, I take my time.
I'm not really one of those rappers that prides himself
on like, "Oh, I did 50 songs tonight"
You know, it's like, I can do two verses
and not finish the song and feel proud.
- Yeah
- Yeah it works for Jay
and it works for Wayne
but that's the thing,
like, it's not-
it shouldn't be your tagline.
Like, "I don't even write."
Well, like, if it's not quality product who cares?
We can tell.
You know like, it's like, you know
Maybe if you took the time to write
your shit would be a little better.
You know what I'm sayin'?
So it's funny that Hov made that joke
'cause it's like, sometimes I feel like
people almost pride themselves on that
and kind of look at me funny
when I pull out my phone and start writing.
Like, "You write?"
You know, like, "What?"
But I mean, to each their own.
And you know, you gotta do what works for you.
It's a creative process, man.
That's what it's about.
You know, it's a individual creative process.
It shouldn't be about - there's no standard.
Like, you don't have to not write to be a good rapper.
So, I mean, as soon as you understand that
and you get comfortable with yourself,
like I don't care, I pull my phone out
in front of anybody and start writing
and say, "Yo, I gotta go and check this website."
You know, 'cause I know that
when I come with that verse
you're gonna be like, "Oh, Okay,
that's why it took 2 hours
and you had to, you know,
you needed the wireless internet hooked up.
Oh, that's why"
So, you know, I mean, it's just about quality man,
and just taking pride in yourself, you know?
And having an ear.
A lot of artists don't even know
when they sound wrong or off.
They like, "Yeah, that sounds the same
as that hit that I had on the radio."
It's like, if you can't place -
You know, if you don't know when somethin' is wrong
you're not gonna be one of the greats.
You might be cool for a minute.
But you know, I mean, yeah.
In any form of entertainment
everybody has to be an actor
at some point.
It's whether you want to go on screen
and really get deep into characters,
where it becomes a personal choice.
We all have to act, you know?
Everybody you just interviewed on that bus
has to act at certain points.
You know, it's when you have fans,
you have other peers,
you have, you know, the potential for
success, hate, jealousy,
you have to act.
You have to act professional.
You have to, you know,
sometimes act civil when you don't want to.
So, you know, the entertainment business
is actually based off acting.
You know, we're all actors in a sense.
Me personally, I'm just a man of self expression.
You know, so as much as I like writing
I like playing characters.
You know, I just like entertaining people
and it's cleansing for me to
just step out of body for a bit
and be something else.
You know, acting is definitely a passion of mine.
Yeah, I think it's just all around -
I just feel like I'm a creative individual.
I like to give things to people, you know?
So whether it be a movie or you know,
like I have a T.V. show
that me and one of my best friends,
Mazin Elsadig, we write, you know,
and it's like, it's comedy comparable to like, Judd Apatow
and you know, Michael Cera
but it's like, you know, with black people in it,
you know?
So.
(laughter)
Yeah, so, I mean
there's all kinds of forms of self expression
and it carries over, obviously, into music.
But my music is really personal.
It's really based on honesty.
You know, so it's not much acting involved
and I'm not also like, you know,
Wayne is a character,
like when he performs,
when he spits,
he's animated.
So you know, with me, with rapping it's more intimate.
It's more organic and more personal, you know?
My music,
I think there's more acting
on the business side of it,
than there is on the music side of it, so.
My career plans are based off of doing both.
I just wanna be part of real films, you know?
I don't wanna play a basketball player all the time
or a rapper.
I don't wanna be like typecast 'cause I do music.
I wanna be-
Like I always tell Tez like, my dream is like,
you know, to be in a movie with like
Will Ferrell or Michael Cera or you know,
I'm a big fan of like all those.
Like Steve Carell, like ‘40-Year-Old Virgin’ and
‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Super Bad’.
You know, I'm a big fan of those movies
and I feel like I've had the training
and, you know, I'm surrounded by enough funny people
that I could probably pull it off so, yeah.
I mean my goal is to get deep into acting, you know?
I wanna be like this generation's Will Smith
but just maybe with just a little -
- [Interviewer] Just Canadian
- Just Canadian, yeah.
I'll leave it at that.
- [Interviewer] And light skinned.
- Yeah, light skinned
and you know, maybe a bit -
I'm not gonna wear like the shiny clothes.
I probably won't take my shirt off either, so.
‘Degrassi’ has always been very supportive.
It was unfortunate the other day.
I had a very long interview
with a publication
that I won't mention but
you know, they asked me a lot of ‘Degrassi’ questions
and my answers were kind of squished into one answer
and it kind of made me come off as a hostile guy
you know, towards ‘Degrassi’ , but.
Nah, you know, I mean
‘Degrassi’ is a show that must live on.
You know, so they have a all new younger cast
and I think it's great.
You know, more power to 'em
and I know that I have supporters over there.
You know. Hi Stephanie Cohen, I love you.
Ya see, you know, yeah I have great supporters over there.
Stephanie Cohen, Ian Christiansen,
like, a lot of people in the press department.
And then even like, up to the top.
You know, the producers always -
They keep their eyes on the kids
and I know, I know that
I've come across their desk a few times
in the last couple months, so ya know?
I think that-
Yeah, it's all good.
It's all good.
When you're part of a T.V. Show for that long
it's hard to really have animosity.
You know, you spend every day around those people
and it's like,
you know, as long as everything's Kosher,
it can't go that bad.
My conquest is now to out do ‘So Far Gone’
in every way possible
with this album,
‘Thank Me Later.’
And,
Until that's completed
I just wanna keep giving people
the collaborations.
I'm very, I'm very very,
selective when it comes to my music, you know?
I don't just aimlessly make songs with anybody
and you know, a lot of people kind of
look at me funny for not doing many features
but I don't wanna like kill the game
to the point that people are like,
"You know, there's nothing new you can show me."
So, you know my goal is just to keep it timeless.
You know, spread it out.
Breathe, pace it.
I wanna give people the collaborations they're looking for
on this album.
And then just,
you know, we have this tool called the internet now.
Us, like us young rappers.
Or the inter web, as Leah calls it.
So, yeah, I've got um -
You know us, we have a great tool, you know?
Guys like Wiley,
you know,
Talented, talented dude.
Kid Cudi.
All of us sort of up and comers
I guess you can say,
Our fan bases and our buzzes
are, you know, stemming from these blogs
and all these different things.
So, you know, just to keep those people entertained.
Me and Cudi were talking today at the Spring Break.
Just about, you know, so many people ask me,
"Yo, when is that Cudi record coming?
You and Cudi, you and Cudi."
So, me and Cudi are gonna make it work and you know.
Other than that, I got, you know, a song with Ye and Wayne.
I got a song, me, Wayne and G-Eazy.
So, you know I got some stuff coming
to just keep the people entertained
until that album hits the shelves
and hopefully my work on ‘So Far Gone’
will allow me to at least break into the industry
in an impressive way, you know?
I'm not over shooting,
tryin' to sell a million first week or anything like that
but you know, some nice numbers would at least
show people they didn't make a mistake in believing in me.
So that's the goal.
There's a track with Ye and Wayne
and there's a track I have over here
with G-Eazy and Wayne, so.
Yeah, it'll be before the album.
You know, it's just, some treats for the people.
That I, you know,
I mean,
When you get to be around the big boys,
you know, I just wanna show I could hold my own weight, so.
Just got those tracks on the way, but yeah.
Other than that, like I say, Ima keep making music.
I'm always traveling around on my engineer 40/40.
So we'll continue this saga.
It does go on.
It's gonna be a great year man.
It's gonna be exciting.
I promise just to entertain people
and keep 'em excited.
That's my goal.
You know, I don't wanna be like
regarded as the best or whatever.
That's not my goal.
My goal is just, I wanna be like,
"Yo, that guy keeps me entertained.
Gets me excited."
That's really, like you know,
you think about when Kanye first dropped ‘College Drop Out’
and you know the buzz behind like ‘The Love Below’
and the buzz behind ‘Fade To Black,’
it's like those times in music
are some of the best times
in people's lives, you know?
It's like you remember those times
when an artist really had you amped up,
like to come home every day
and check something, you know?
So I think we sort of accomplished that
with ‘So Far Gone’
and I just wanna keep it going.
You know with the album, try somethin' different so.