Tag: Drake

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Musique

Drake confirms Alicia Keys is in

Drake’s album Thank Me Later drops June 15 and is one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. The Toronto rapper provided some details about one of the songs on his debut release. While he was performing in Los Angeles, he threw a tidbit to the crowd. Before launching into his song Fireworks, he announced that he performs the song with none other than Alicia Keys. He added that it is the first song on his album.

He told the crowd: "This right here is the first song that you will hear when you put that disk in. It’s a song with myself and Miss Alicia Keys, it’s called Fireworks."

Drake also talked about the song in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He indicated the song is about several subjects, including his friendship with Lil Wayne, his family as well as rumours of a fling with Rihanna. Drake is Lil Wayne’s  protégé and is keeping really busy waiting for the rapper to finish his year-long jail sentence for carrying an illegal weapon.

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A second Drake single is out

We haven’t seen much of Kanye West these days. He wisely decided to stay under the radar after his strange antics at the MTV Video Awards last year. That doesn’t mean he has been idle though. He helped new Canadian rap sensation Drake produce his second single, Find Your Love. The song is part of the album Thank Me Later scheduled to be released on June 15.

You could listen to the track on Drake’s website this morning but it had to be pulled for bandwidth reasons.

The song is about saving a romantic relationship and is the second single from the album to find its way onto the Internet. The song Over was released in March. The Find Your Love video was filmed recently in Jamaica.

This is the third song where Drake and Kanye West collaborate in one way or another. West directed Drake’s video for Best I Ever Had. This Drake track appeared on his So Far Gone mini album released in 2009.

West and Drake were scheduled to perform the song Forever with  Lil Wayne and Eminem at the recent Grammy Awards gala. It ended up going down without Kanye West and introduced the American public to this new Canadian rap sensation.

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Musique

Michael Bublé triumphs at the Junos

The Canadian music industry celebrated last night (April 18) in St. John’s, Newfoundland at the annual Juno Awards. All the brightest stars in Canadian music were on hand, despite the huge cloud of volcanic ash heading their way from Iceland.

Michael Bublé was the uncontested star of the evening, walking away with four awards, including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year for Crazy Love, Single of the Year for Haven’t Met You Yet, and the Juno Fan Choice Award, voted on by fans.

He told reporters he had to high tail it out of St. John’s because his fiancé was scheduled to appear on an Argentinian TV show. He said, "I spoke to a pilot just now who told me that the ash cloud would be coming here by 3 a.m. and it could be another three days before anyone can get out of here. I don’t want to be the guy who brings everyone down. It wouldn’t be that bad to have to stay here for another three days but for her it would."

Drake won two Juno Awards, Rap Recording of the Year for his song So Far Gone and New Artist of the Year. K’Naan won the prestigious Songwriter of the Year award for his anthem Wavin’ Flag and also received the Artist of the Year award.

Metric won Group of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year for Fantasies. Billy Talent picked up Rock Album of the Year for III.

New teen pop sensation Justin Bieber walked away empty handed despite three nominations.

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Musique

Drake on a Lil Wayne remix

Sure, that up-and-coming hip hop star from Canada a.k.a Drake has a lot of talent. But his explosion onto the music scene has a lot to do with Lil Wayne who took the young rapper under his wing.

Drake does not hide his admiration for the rapper who is currently serving time in prison after pleading guilty to carrying an illegal weapon.

Lil Wayne postponed the release of his album to coincide with the beginning of his sentence. He also found time to work with his protégé on a song off Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later, which drops on June 15.

Fans may be able to hear Drake on a Lil Wayne song too. The rapper did a remix of the song I’m Single for his No Ceilings mixtape. Drake loved the song so much that he practically begged to sing the hook. Now there’s a version with Drake out there that could be released.

Drake explains: "I love that song. It’s one of those songs I wish was my song. I tried to slither my way on that record. I called Tez like, ‘Tez, let me get on that hook.’ There’s a version with me on it. I don’t know if it’s gonna get out there. Music is someone else’s creation. Once it’s done, it’s hard to say I wanna be a part of it."

Time will tell if the song sees the light of day.

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Musique

Hip hop embraces Justin Bieber

In an interview with MTV News, singer Justin Bieber talks about why the hip hop world has accepted him.

The 16-year old singer did not name any names but said that, unlike other singers, he has not gone the Disney way.

Justin Bieber erupted onto the music scene last year and quickly began to evolve under the tutelage of Usher. The R&B star signed Bieber to his record label.

In the video for Baby, the first single off his new album, My World 2.0, he sings with rapper Ludacris. Another rising Canadian star, Drake, is also in the background Justin Bieber’s video, playing one of his friends in the bowling alley scene. He is a Lil Wayne  protégé.

Justin Bieber comments: "I like hop-hop a lot. I’m really glad they’ve taken a liking to me," he told MTV News recently. "Having Luda [on my song ‘Baby’] and having Lil Wayne give me shout me out on UStream and, like, you know — it’s cool."

He adds: I think it’s because I didn’t go through the Disney route, I didn’t go corny, but, like, at the same time I’ve been cool and collected."

Now the trick for Justin Bieber is to make the sometimes difficult transition between the teen and adult worlds. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of stars like Justin Timberlake and Usher who succeeded in leaving their teen image behind.

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Two rising stars unite?

Here’s some news that will make both pop and hip hop music fans happy: two of the fastest rising stars in their respective music genres, both Canadians to boot, are thinking about teaming up to make music together.

The two stars are Justin Bieber, at the top of the Billboard 200 music chart since the release of My World 2.0, and Toronto rapper Drake. His album, Thank Me Later, drops in May and is one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. They are talking about meeting up in studio to record a song.

This would not be the first time these Canadian boys have worked together. Drake was in Justin Bieber’s Baby video. He was one of Bieber’s friends in the video’s bowling alley scene. Both singers also sang a part in the Young Artists for Haiti Wavin’ Flag remake that is raising money for disaster victims in Haiti.

Bieber talked about his admiration for Drake in an interview with Combust. He said, "He’s a great artist and we’ve already talked about it; we haven’t done it yet, but it’s definitely in the works."

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Musique

Drake wants to share his story

It appears nothing will stand in the way of Canadian rapper Drake’s rise to the top of the hip hop world. His album, Thank Me Later, hits stores on June 15 and looks like one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year.

The Toronto rapper only has a mini-album on the market so far. Recent collaborations with some big names in music have pushed him into the spotlight of 2010.

He shot a video a while ago for the song Over and talked to MTV News about the importance of this track on his upcoming album.

He said, "Over is the fourth song on the album and it’s the turning point in the album. It’s like, you get three songs of me sort of trying to paint the picture of what the last year has been like for me — trying to fill you in, almost let you into my world as much as I can."

Drake goes on to say, "Over is that moment where you’re almost worried on the album. ‘Is this kid about to … ? What’s happening? Is he changing?’ It offers up a whole different look for the song. The song — to a lot of people — is ignorant, it’s club. This video is what I was really thinking about."

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Alicia Keys delays release of duet with Beyoncé

Singer Alicia Keys just announced she has to postpone the release of her music video with Beyoncé. She needs to concentrate on a collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake whose name has been on everybody’s lips since he performed at the Grammy Awards with Eminem, Lil Wayne and Travis Barker.

Alicia Keys and Beyoncé shot the new video for their song Put It In a Love Song in the slums of Rio de Janiero in February. The song was recorded for Keys’ latest album The Element of Freedom, released last year.

Keys told Rap-Up.com that the video with Beyoncé is coming. She said, "Expect it right after my Un-Thinkable video. It’s kind of nice that I have such a great video (with) such a great artist in the can. They’re going to be able to see the Un-Thinkable video first and then see Put It in a Love Song, but it probably won’t come until closer to this summer."

Alicia Keys is focusing on the promotion of this other song, Un-Thinkable, which features vocals from Canadian rapper Drake.

Keys explains, "He won’t be in the video. That’s too obvious. (But) he’s a great guy. I’m really proud of all the things he’s been able to achieve, and we’re most likely going to do some kind of remix for the song that’ll be really good. There’ll be more of me and Drake."

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Who will perform at the Juno Awards?

Hip hop and rap have had a tough time getting visibility at award shows over the last 20 years. The Juno Awards are no different. Organizers have been criticized for not adequately representing this popular music genre.

This year, however, the awards ceremony is making up for lost time. Hip hop and rap fans will have a lot to sink their teeth into.

Organizers announced just yesterday the list of groups who will perform at JunoFest, the concert series taking place in St. John’s, Newfoundland on the weekend before the ceremony. They now announce the artists who will perform during the Juno Awards being broadcast across Canada live from the Mile One Center on  April 18.

Among artists proudly representing the hip hop movement are Drake, Classified and K’naan. Drake is the rising Toronto rapper who performed at the Grammy Awards with Lil Wayne and Eminem.

Other artists slated to perform throughout the evening of April 18 are Michael Bublé, Justin Bieber, Billy Talent, Drake, Metric, Blue Rodeo, Great Lake Swimmers and Johnny Reid.

Michael Bublé is the big favourite coming into the evening. He has six nominations, compared to four for Billy Talent, Drake and Johnny Reid.

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Musique

Another Drake song hits the Web

A new Drake song is online. The Canadian rapper got some support from Lil Wayne when he was starting out and now the first album of his solo career is finished and ready to go.

The album Thank Me Later is being released this May. Now fans can hear the song Shut It Down. It was produced by Omen and Noah "40" Shebib and features The-Dream.

Drake’s song Over has already been online for a few weeks and is getting positive reviews. The singer told Billboard that this new song talks about the power of ordinary women.

He said, "It’s like an anthem for you to be at your house with your girlfriends getting ready, what you listen to before you get there. It’s a song for the non-famous woman to make her feel special and just to let you know that even though I’m up here and have the option to mingle with these ‘upper-echelon’ women, if you will, that sometimes I’d rather be with the girl from back home or a student or a girl that works at Wal-Mart."

Drake will head out on a small tour called The Away From Home on April 6. He will be accompanied by another Canadian rapper, K-OS.