Every Moment In Drake and Kanye's History That Built To "Glow"
“Glow” is just the latest piece in the puzzle that is Drake and Kanye West’s long history.
Drake's music career kicked off during Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak era, which helped pave the way for Drake to make the kind of melodic, emotion-driven music he's become famous for.
Drake and Kanye's relationship has grown from a mutual respect that has continuously drawn them to each other, to the point where a joint album between the two felt imminent. But like all tragic love stories, this one has yet to give their fans a happy ending. Here's a look at their complex history over the years.
Drake / Instagram
Feb. 13, 2009: Drake sampled Kanye's "Say You Will" on his So Far Gone mixtape.
The release of So Far Gone is when most of us fell in love with Drake, and it's only appropriate that his entry point into our hearts included him singing over a sample of Kanye's "Say You Will" on "Say What's Real." His sound seemed like a clear evolution of what we'd heard from rappers like T-Pain and Ye. The sample from 808s & Heartbreak only cemented that notion.
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"Before I ever got the chance to meet him, Kanye West shaped a lot of what I do, as far as music goes," Drake told MTV News. "We always, always, always took the time to listen to Kanye's music and appreciate it beyond. We searched the samples and we find out where his inspiration came from, because he has one of the best ears in music, period. He knows how to recognize great music that's not his. He knows how to utilize great sounds and great music. So before I met him, I had the utmost respect for Kanye West. I'd even go as far as to say he's the most influential person as far as a musician that I'd ever had in my life."
June 2009: Kanye directed the music video for Drake's "Best I Ever Had."
Drake told the story about how it happened to MTV News: "We were in the studio one night — me, Kanye, and Big Sean — we were actually recording a song. And ’Ye ... it oozes out of him, creativity ... he was just being creative Kanye, like, spewing out ideas, and the day after, I texted my manager — we have the same manager — and was like, 'Yo, Kanye's idea was actually the best out of all of them, see if he'll do the video.'"
(Raise your hand if you too are just learning they once shared a manager.)