A History Of Drake & Future's Shaky Relationship

Drake and Future are undoubtedly two of hip-hop's biggest names. However, their relationship can only be described as complex, given its equal mix of ups and downs. The pair have collaborated on some of hip-hop's greatest hits, boosting their popularity and diversity. Drake and Future enjoyed incredible success from working together. However, every stage of their relationship seems to have been plagued by one issue or the other.

Before now, there were faint rumors of issues between Drake and Future. However, those rumors intensified after Future and Metro Boomin released their album, We Don't Trust You. The album featured a diss verse from Kendrick Lamar on "Like That" targeted at Drake and J. Cole. The hip-hop scene heated up as Drake and Kendrick engaged in a rap feud since the song's release. Besides the Drake vs. Kendrick beef, We Don't Trust You made fans and hip-hop enthusiasts pay more attention to ongoing tensions between Drake and Future. Let us explore the history of Drake and Future's relationship, focusing on their shared successes, controversial moments, and present tensions.

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Hip-hop enthusiasts most likely remember Drake and Future more for their impactful collaborations. The rappers collaborated for the first time in 2011. Then, Drake jumped on the remix of Future's breakout hit, "Tony Montana." Afterward, they featured in other artists' songs, These included Lil Wayne's "Love Me," Preme's "DnF," and DJ Drama's "We In This Bitch." Besides "Tony Montana," Drake also collaborated with Future on some of his other early projects. These included "Fo Real," the remix of "Sh!t," and "Never Satisfied."

With their collaborative chemistry formulated, Drake and Future went ahead and became a winning team. In 2015, Drake appeared on "Where Ya At," becoming the only guest feature on Future's DS2, notably primarily produced by Metro Boomin. Afterward, Drake and Future teamed up for the joint mixtape What A Time To Be Alive. Again, Metro Boomin executive produced the successful collaboration. In 2016, Drake and Future combined for more success as the latter appeared on "Grammys" from the former's Views.

Drake and Future also went on the Summer Sixteen Tour. After the tour's conclusion, they teamed up for the single "Used To This." This solidified their partnership and the alliance between their record labels, OVO and FBG. The pair enjoyed more successful collaborations in the 2020s, with the songs "Life Is Good," "Desires," and "D4L," featuring Young Thug. Their final collaboration came in 2022 in Future's album I Never Liked You. Drake appeared on "I'm On One" and "Wait For U," which sampled Nigerian singer Tem's "Higher." "Wait For You" won a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance.

The first seeds of discord between Drake and Future were sewn in November 2011. The pair collaborated on the remix of Future's "Tony Montana." However, Drake didn't feature on the music video, which hurt Future's feelings. During an interview on The Source TV, Future said Drake's absence from the music video felt like a "slap in the face." He explained that many Atlanta-based artists wanted to get on the song, but he chose Drake over them. He added, "I really wanted to give Atlanta something different, and it ended up being a slap in my face [because] we didn’t complete the whole thought. Just the thought of [Drake] getting on it deserves a salute, but the thought not being completed, the salute comes back." Although both rappers settled the issue and worked together again, there was more to come.

In August 2013, Future ignited more chaos during an interview on Power 106. He revealed he inspired the hook on Drake's hit track "Started From The Bottom." Future further revealed that Drake appreciated the inspiration but didn't give him the recognition he deserved. He said, "[Drake] bought me a bottle of Louis XIII [de Remy Martin Grande Champagne Cognac] that I never opened up because of this story. I was like, ‘Man I don’t want a bottle. I need publishing.’ But Drake, that’s the homie."

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Drake and Future had more tensions after the latter got allegedly removed from the OVO boss's Would You Like a Tour? Future's exemption from the tour came after his comments about Drake during a Billboard interview. Comparing his Honest album to Drake's NWTS album, Future said, "Drake made an album that is full of hits but it doesn’t grab you. They’re not possessive; they don’t make you feel the way I do. I want to make you want to fall in love."

However, Future's team requested Billboard remove those comments as they claimed they were taken out of context. Future also made a post on X (then called Twitter). He wrote, "Respect to Billboard, disappointed on being misquoted..always love for my fam Drizzy Drake." Amid these tensions, there were also reports that Drake and Future were embroiled in a $1.5 million lawsuit over the tour's logistics. The pair seemingly settled the rift as Future rejoined the tour and also participated in Drake's Summer Sixteen Tour.

Drake and Future collaborated with great effect on the highly successful "Wait For U." However, that proved to be their last collaboration as they never actively promoted the song or performed it together. In November 2022, Drake released his joint album with 21 Savage, Her Loss. Two months after the album's release, rumors emerged that Future wasn't pleased with Drake's partnership with 21 Savage on the Her Loss album. After We Don't Trust You's release, investigative fans dug deeper into Her Loss and speculated that "More M's" had lyrics from Drake that targeted Future. One such line is, "I could really go five hours in the stadium/What happened to that n***a claiming OVO? We traded ‘em." Theorists believe Drake referred to Future, who previously claimed OVO via social media posts and his outfits.

With speculations rife about the cause of Drake and Future's strained relationship, some theories claimed the rappers feuded over a woman. These theories weren't without cause. In Drake and 21 Savage's "More M's" from their Her Loss album, Drake rapped, "N***as ain’t got love for the boy, so they fake it/Crack a couple jokes to some bitches on some snake sh*t/But if I send a verse to they a*s, then they’ll take it/Shoot a video, arm around me like we aces." Some fans believe Drake's lyrics aimed at Future and proof that their feud was because of a woman. One can interpret the lyrics as Drake complaining about Future flirting with a woman he had an interest in and still acting like a bro in their music collaborations.

Drake also rapped, "Or pop out at my shows, jump around with me on stages/Probably why these h*es love to shower me with praises/Might’ve f*cked a rapper, girl, but you ain’t f*cked Drake yet." The lyrics seemingly show that Drake and Future might have slept with the same woman, leading to issues between them. Unsurprisingly, internet detectives dug further and found that Drake and Future are possibly feuding over a woman named Diana. From the findings, the woman works at a Miami club named Booby Trap.

To lay more credence to these findings, Drake raps in his song "Fear of Heights," "He might take you on trips/and he might have some hits/But, baby, not more than me/He might be at the trap and ones/But ain't throwin' more than me." The "trap" reference from those bars could be referring to Diana, who works at Booby Trap. This might mean Drake's ego was probably hurt after Future and Diana started hanging out.

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In We Don't Trust You's opening track, Future raps, "You a n***a number one fan, dog/ Sneak dissin', I don't understand, dog/ Pillow talkin', actin' like a fed, dog/I don't need another fake friend, dog/Can't be 'bout a ho, 'cause we sharin', dog/In yo feelings, n***a, why you playin', dog?" If Drake and Future are really feuding over a woman, then those bars could be directed at Drake, which makes those assumptions more valid. Also, Future and Metro Boomin have a song in their album titled "Magic Don Juan (Princess Diana)," which some speculated could be about the same woman. Interestingly enough, the song boasts production credits from Boi-1da, who not only is an in-house producer for OVO but produced Drake's recent string of diss tracks aimed at Kendrick Lamar and the industry as a whole.

After rumors of Drake and Future's beef began circulating, fans went back to Drake's For All The Dogs album. In the song "What Would Pluto Do," initially thought to be about Drake hailing Future, Drake raps, "What would Pluto do? He’d f*ck the h*e, so I did it/ What would Pluto do? He definitely f*ckin’ on this h*e, yeah." Looking at the lines retrospectively, Drake could have been talking about him and Future sleeping with the same woman. If these theories are true, then it all begins to make sense now. Well, Drake warned everyone in "Middle Of The Ocean" from his Her Loss album, where he raps, "The lyrics begin to reveal themselves over time periods." Okay, 6 God, we get you now.

With the rumors that Drake and Future were beefing over a woman gaining ground, Metro Boomin took it upon himself to clarify things. The producer tweeted, "Yall n***as stop making stuff up for engagement and enjoy the music." Having worked extensively with Drake and Future, some, including the Canadian rapper, suggested that Metro might be at the center of their feud. In December 2023, Metro criticized Drake's Her Loss album despite saying he had no issues with the rapper. However, given Future and Metro's strong bond, it seems clear that Future took a side between the hit-making producer and his former collaborator from Toronto.

Such a scenario could be playing out now. Metro and Future collaborated on an album, featuring a series of disses targeting Drake including the show-stopping verse from Kendrick Lamar on "Like That." That diss verse began a full-blown rap war between Drake and Kendrick, and no one knows when it will stop. On both "Push Ups" and "Family Matters," Drake addresses Future, though he sounds more hurt over their beef than anything on the latter. "Pluto sh*t make me sick to my stomach, we ain't never really been through it/ Leland Wayne, he a f**kin' lame, so I know he had to be an influence," Drake raps on "Family Matters."

Drake and Future's complicated relationship is sad to see. The pair have been so great at their musical collaborations. Hence, it won't make sense if they never do a song together. Hip-hop fans who only care about the music will want to see these two geniuses back at the studio working together again. Meanwhile, those who love drama will want more hate between them. No one knows what will become of the pair, so we can only wait and see.

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