FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Kissing Fans, Getting Arrested, and Other Key Learnings from Drake's Epic Nardwuar Interview

The 6 God does not run out of steam.
Daisy Jones
London, GB

If you’ve ever watched a Drake interview (like last week’s one with Zane Lowe, for instance) you’ll know that the guy has the kind of big beaming eyes, lulling voice, and shiny white teeth that will make you listen to his every word with a kind of dazed expression on your face. Couple that with the squawking shrieks of one-man Canadian media empire Nardwuar, and you’ll reach a strange state of viewing, where you go through the motions of being chilled and then suddenly startled within the length of a few breaths. Try doing that for a whole hour, and you’ll come close to the experience of watching Nardwuar’s latest interview with Drake and 40, which went up earlier today.

Advertisement

In the clip, Nardwuar shows a bunch of old records to Drake and 40, who in turn speak about their musical influences, with a few personal anecdotes thrown in between (including that time Drake nearly got arrested in Jamaica). Within the space of sixty minutes, Nardwuar gets Drake to talk about Biggie, Popcaan, Vybz Kartel, Mac Dre, Three 6 Mafia, Houston hip hop, and endless others. Here are just a few excerpts:

Drake on almost getting arrested: “I almost did get arrested because in Jamaica at a stage show, the way that the police monitor the shows is that they try not to incite the crowd so they don’t like you to swear and obviously I was just excited to Jamaica so I started cussing up a storm. They were about to arrest me, but luckily Beenie Man was there and a bunch of people were there, and they tried to explain to the police that I didn’t understand. It was a wild night.”

On kissing fans: “I stopped that…the glory days, man. I miss it a lot. You never how old fans are or what they’ve been up to prior to the show, so I don’t kiss fans anymore but it’s still love.”

On Pam Grier: “I still lust after Pam Grier to this day. I tried following her on twitter, but I don’t think it’s the real her. She was one of my first muses.”

On Popcaan: “Unfortunately Vybz is incarcerated right now and that’s why we say 'free world boss', but Popcaan was basically his young boy and filled his shoes and gave Jamaica incredible songs and filled the movement and that’s something I’m a part of as well. We’re one family.”

On his love of Houston: “I have the Houston ‘H’ tattooed on my shoulder. I’m very grateful for Houston. It’s one of those places where I’m probably going to own a house there one day; just to be there for a bit out of the year every year makes me a better rapper. Houston is a place where they believe in their own style of music, and it gave me the confidence to come back to Toronto and believe in what we had as well.”

Go down the rabbit hole and watch the full video below: