Drake's 2011 album Take Care was released eight months after The Weeknd's debut project House of Balloon and subsequent glow up.
The Weeknd was a major contributor on Take Care. "I gave up almost half of my album,” he said last month. “It’s hard. I will always be thankful—if it wasn’t for the light he shined on me, who knows where I’d be. And everything happens for a reason. You never know what I would say if this success wasn’t in front of me now.”
The original version of "Crew Love" has now surfaced online. It contains The Weeknd's first verse, which appears on the final version of the song, as well as a second Weeknd verse that was taken off in favor of a Drake verse added later. Video footage (embedded below) exists of Abel singing the lost verse a capella, but this is the first time the actual demo track has been made available.
Listen here.
[via Stereogum]