A Drake co-sign will put you on the map, straight up. It's happened for many artists over the past half-decade or so. The Weeknd was only brought into the mainstream spotlight when Drake appeared on his sophomore mixtape Thursday. Migos stock skyrocketed after Drizzy jumped on "Versace." Even the likes of dancehall star Popcaan has been able to crossover into the American mainstream after garnering attention from Drake. The Toronto artist happens to be one of the most influential men in music, and he's used that influence to bring a bunch of lesser-known artists into the spotlight.
It may not always spawn a working relationship, but Drake's approval can certainly be the catalyst to an artist's career. Today, we look at 14 artists who've been endorsed by Mr. OVO.
PARTYNEXTDOOR
PND was signed to OVO Sound back in 2013, and has released a couple of EPs and an album on the label. The first time the world got a dose of PARTYNEXTDOOR is when he was featured on "Own It" and "Come Thru" from Drake's Nothing Was the Same LP. Since then, the producer/singer has worked with the likes of Big Sean, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Amir Obe, and more. He and Drake released the single "Come and See Me," a track that showcases both artists' strong suits while demonstrating their chemistry, just a few weeks ago.
The Weeknd
Before Abel Tesfaye was the new king of pop, he was a mysterious internet musician who had never left Toronto. His mixtape House of Balloons caused a stir when it released five years ago, and then when he followed it up with Thursday, featuring the Drake-assisted track "The Zone," he slowly crept into the mainstreams eyes. However, it wasn't until Drake's Take Care came out, which features Abel as a writer on five songs and as an artist on two, that he was truly a household name. That OVOXO sound, as it was known for a while, boosted both Drake and The Weeknd's stocks, sure, but Drake had already been one of the biggest names in music by that point.
dvsn
The newest sounds from OVO come courtesy of dvsn, the low-key duo of singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85. Together, they just released their first full-length project Sept. 5th, a ten-track, feature-less debut that has been getting stellar reviews.
While Drake is nowhere to be found on dvsn's debut, the group released their songs on OVO Sound's radio show, along with garnering production from Noah '40' Shebib. Drizzy might not have remixed one of their tracks to bring it into the eyes of the mainstream, but he certainly helped them get to where they're at today.
Roy Woods
This one is easy: after Drake jumped on "Drama" and debuted it on the first-ever OVO Sound radio show, Roy Woods was on everybody's radar. A couple weeks after that, a second, Drake-less single was released on the second OVO Sound radio show. Another week after that and Woods debut EP Exis was released. As one of OVO Sound's newest talents, let's hope that we haven't heard the last of joint material between him and Drake.
Kodak Black
Here's one of the most ridiculous examples of a Drake co-sign putting someone on the map. Kodak Black's single "SKRT" was a bit of a viral sensation, but once Drake posted an Instagram video of him dancing along to it, it blew up. Nearly every blog (and Earl Sweatshirt) had something to say on the manner, and because of it, hundreds of articles have tied Florida rapper Kodak Black and the 6 God together.
Migos
While they were buzzing in Atlanta, the Migos trio released their first single "Versace." The song blew up, but when Drake hopped on the remix, and shouted out Migos and Zaytoven that it really took things up to 100. Since then, the track has gone gold, and Migos has become one of the quickest success stories in recent history, waving the new Atlanta flag high as they attempt to avoid legal troubles and impact the game.
Skepta
Drake and Skepta started their music careers seemingly worlds apart, but recently found themselves experiencing an unexpected kinship. A couple months ago, Drake sparked headlines by signing to Skepta's label Boy Better Know, a move that continues to stump the blogosphere.
It's pretty clear that Drake is a big reason for Skepta's newfound success here in America, which is a part of the larger increase of grime's popularity here as well. Drake began putting Skepta on the map by borrowing a line from him on "Used To" before sending out a series of social media posts that praise the grime MC. More recently, the two were heard together on Wizkid's "Ojuelegeba (Remix)," leaving the rest of us hungry for more joint material.
ILoveMakonnen
Nearly 125 million plays on the Drake-featured track "Tuesday," the song that made ILoveMakonnen a household name. Things have seemed to be a little rocky between the two. In an interview with the Fader, Makonnen said of his relationship with the OVO Sound label, "It's cool, they put out my music and stuff and we just keep it moving. Let them tell you their relationship with Makonnen. I'm just an artist, being an artist, and there's only so much that I can do."
He also said of his relationship with Drake: "By the time this comes out, I'll probably see him six more times or no more times. I don’t know. I just wish everybody well in all that they do and I just go on and live my life and try to uplift motherfuckers. At the end of the day I'm tired of uplifting people. I just gotta uplift myself now because everything else is a waste of time."
Amir Obe
Amir Obe
Amir Obe is an up-and-coming rapper and producer out of Detroit. After being impressed by his Detrooklyn project, Drake recruited Amir to work on "Star67" from If You're Reading This It's Too Late, and also featured his music on OVO Sound Radio. Drizzy also made sure to give him a shout out when he performed in his city. Amri is gradually building his own following, but we're sure we'll continue to see support from the 6 God as his stock continues to rise.
P Reign
P Reign
P Reign and Drake have been friends and collaborators from early on, and since blowing up, Drizzy has always made sure to promote the Toronto by way of Montreal rapper, guesting on his mixtapes, and taking him on various tours. According to Reign's verse in Lil Reese's "Us," Drake even helped him out of his legal troubles, "Drizzy dropped a hundred on my lawyer and I beat the case!"
Popcaan
It wouldn't be fair for us to give Drake full credit for putting Popcaan on, because he was already an international sensation by the time we got to him. However, as a website with largely American readership, it was a big thing to see Drake starting to work with the dancehall upstart. While it's great to see Popcaan gaining fans and attention after messing with Drake, it's also awesome to know that Drake is probably getting put on a little bit to Popcaan fans by Popcaan himself.
"Hold On, We're Going Home" was a massive song. In addition to Drake, the track featured Majid Jordan along with production by Nineteen85 Noah "40" Shebib, and Majid Jordan themselves. The chemistry was good enough for the Canadian R&B duo to continue to work with the OVO Sound camp, as they released an EP in 2014 before dropping their debut album back in February.
Ramriddlz
As a virtually unknown artist, Ramriddlz is yet-another Toronto area artist that owes a good bit of his current buzz to Drake. He had 100 Twitter followers when OVO Sound radio dropped the "Sweeterman" remix; now he's sitting at 11.5k. The Egyption-Canadian R&B/dancehall hybrid just released a new project in the form of Venus, which you can stream on Soundcloud now. While he and Drake haven't had a proper collaboration yet, hopefully the two have something in the cooker.
Wizkid
Nigerian musician Wizkid has been at it since 2001. That's longer than Drake's been seriously at this music thing, but nevertheless, the Nigerian star has seen a huge surge in his American popularity ever since Drake and Skepta hopped on a remix of his track "Ojuelegba." The warm, sunny vibes go perfectly with this new island sound-wave that Drake is currently riding. With any luck, we'll see more crossover hits from the two in the future.