It's hard not to learn something from an interview. Often times, the subject of the conversation ends up coming away with a some new fun facts thanks to the Vancouver eccentric's vast music knowledge and unmatched research skills. Usually, this is all contained within about 10 to 20 minutes of back-and-forth, but in Drake and 40's new interview with the Human Serviette, he gets a full hour to blow their minds.
As a result, there's a lot to take away from the talk, certainly a lot more than we got with the Zane Lowe conversation that preceded VIEWS, as Nard digs deep into Drake and 40's early collaborations, surprising influences, and some of the strange situations they've found themselves in over the course of their careers.
Click through the galleries to find a few of the more interesting tidbits dropped throughout the interview, and watch it in full below
Drake almost got arrested in Jamaica
I almost did get arrested, because in Jamaica at a stage show, the way the police monitor the shows, they try not to incite the crowd, so they don't like you to swear. So first thing, I was just excited to be in Jamaica, so I started cussing up a storm and they were about to arrest me. Luckily, I think Beenie Man was there -- a bunch of people were there. They just kinda tried to explain to the police that I didn't understand... Big up all the guys that were that that night because they saved my life [laughs].
He was with a woman who never spoke to him again after that night
It was a wild night. Mavado came to pick me up in a caravan of cars. I was with somebody -- I won't say her name -- but I was with somebody that night, and it was our first time ever going out together. Needless to say, she did not stick around. She definitely left and never spoke to me again.
He didn't write his own bars on that first Degrassi rap
It was the first time I got to showcase rap on television. I think they gave me an opportunity after that to write a real song myself. I don't think I wrote those bars, believe it or not. That was the first time rap showed its face on Degrassi
He idolized Cam'ron and Mase growing up
He idolized Cam'ron and Mase growing up
Two guys I wanted to be, growing up. They had their city away. Just guys who brought new energy to the city. It's surreal to watch those guys. How much money can one guy have? How fly can they be? Cam and Ma$e were epic. And Loon, don't forget about Loon. Everybody wants to forget about Loon but Loon was a part of that.
He has a lot of love for Three 6 Mafia
I was a huge Three 6 fan. Again, a group of guys who were from somewhere that didn't have a sound, and they created a sound. I'm a huge Juicy fan, huge Paul fan. I really got to meet the guys later on in life. Three 6 just had a movement. They had a bunch of artists popping up. They were doing something that had never been seen in music, making money that had never been seen off rap in music.
He met Yo Gotti in Memphis as a teenager
My cousin's boyfriend at the time was managing Yo Gotti so I was probably about 15 and I got to go to the house where they recorded at and they took me to the club. That was probably the most I'd ever seen with my two eyes of like... this rap stuff really works. They looked like the richest guys in the world to me. I had never seen so many cars, so much jewelry, so much everything. They just had the city locked down. That was actually at the time where I think they were butting heads with Three 6, but it was just an amazing time to be there. I got to witness all of it... Yo Gotti showed me a lot about what's possible in your own city.
He sometimes confuses Common and Limp Bizkit
40: Common had a soft little run but I really liked that one CD that he had, which I can't even remember what it was called.
Drake: Was it Chocolate Starfish?
40: Nah it wasn't that one, man. Look I'm a diehard Common fan. Resurrection is one of the reasons I got into making rap music. Like that's a song that I fell in love with that like brought me on this journey. And Can I Borrow A Dollar?, I have that on wax and CD ... When I was in Grade 9, they were clowning me, my boys, they were listening to N.O.R.E. or something [laughs].
He feels "Back To Back" was necessary
"Back To Back" was what it was. It was a reaction to somebody trying to challenge my integrity and that's pretty much what's gonna happen anytime that happens. It is what it is. I did what I had to do
He credits Toronto rapper Jimmy Prime with contributing to "the 6".
Jimmy definitely out there doing his thing. At the time, Oliver and Jimmy were brainstorming about something and they had come up with the title together Views From The 6 and I had asked Oliver if I could use the title because I really liked the title. Oliver had come up with it but yeah I give all the credit to Jimmy. He was definitely part of that process, finding the right title for the album and obviously, that title birthed a whole movement for the city.
He predicted his own fame after seeing Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishall at the mall.
One of my fondest memories was walking through the Yorkdale Mall right by the Bay and the old Harry Rosen, turning the corner and seeing this guy standing what looked like at the time 7'5'', wearing a fur Kangol and Adidas tracksuit. I remember he was the biggest rapper in the city. I don't know who I was with but I turned to the person I was with and said, "I'm gonna be bigger than that guy one day." At the same time, He was, to me, larger than life in that mall. It wasn't an offensive thing, it was something to strive for. I wanted to be bigger than that because prior to that, we had seen him come out at Rock The Caribana with Jay Z and he had songs ringing off across the world. He was our guy. He was the first one to be a star boy from out here.
He worked on an earlier incarnation of Dr. Dre's Detox
We have a long history with Dr. Dre. We were blessed enough to be part of the Record One troops and we had our experience, being part of that. It was definitely nerve-wracking, we were young but we tried our best. We did what we did. I don't know if anyone's tracks ever surfaced but there was a lot of music back then and I got to work with Snoop Dogg in that time. I got to work with a bunch of people. It was a big honor.
Bun B is a father figure to him.
Bun was one of the first people to give me that acceptance from Houston when I did records like "November 18" and "Uptown" and Bun was the one to stamp it. Bun's a guy that any new talent, he's always there to lend his advice, always there to give a feature if he enjoys the music and supports it, he'll come out to your show. Bun will do whatever he can to keep the culture going. I honored Bun B at HAW last year and if I could honor him every year, I would because he's that guy.
He has undying love for Pam Grier
I love Pam Grier. I still lust after Pam Grier to this day. I tried to find her, I tried following her on Twitter and Instagram but I don't think it's the real her. She was one of my first muses... She shaped what my idea of a woman was as far as curves, shape and body and Pam Grier's what I fell in love with as a young guy.
He thinks Biggie has the best rap cadence of all time, and BIG's R&B leanings helped inform 40's sound
Drake: Big has my favorite cadence. The approach that he took to every joint that he got on was incredible. I was a huge Big fan, definitely.
40: He made music that had a sound of R&B to it that was aggressive rap music. He played a role in the R&B space of rap music which was important for me. He had a lot of melody in his stuff.
He and 40 first collaborated on Divine Brown's "Twist My Hair (Remix)," recorded the day they met.
40: My first writing credit. First song I produced on a real album. I was [Divine's] engineer. I was engineering her album and she believed in me enough to give me a chance to produce a record and she used one of my records and this was it. That's the first day I met Drake. Saukrates brought him because Saukrates produced all the records on this album... so he got Drake in to come and do a remix. Drake and Boi-1da came to the studio and it was the first day I met Drake.