Kanye West Dedicates A Track To Drake At "VULTURES" Listening Event And Fans Are Very Confused

BYGabriel Bras Nevares4.5K Views
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2015 MTV Video Music Awards - Fixed Show
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Vanguard Award winner Kanye West speaks onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Considering the lyrical content of this "Graduation" cut and the other person that Kanye West dedicated it to, fans are split.

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign's recent VULTURES listening party in Korea on Thursday night (August 22) was more bizarre than most, and that's saying something. Moreover, the reason why people raised their eyebrows at this particular event has to do with the former artist's mention of one of his former friends turned current rivals. "This one's for Drake, this one's for Ian Connor," Ye told the crowd when "I Wonder" started to play. Considering the track's lyrical content and the questionable backgrounds of these figures, some fans took this as a diss about them being unable to find their dreams or a legitimate shoutout.

Either way, fans expressed confusion over this on social media, and aren't really stepping in to defend neither Drake nor Ian Connor. Well, for Drizzy, a lot of fans think that Kanye West is just using his name for clout or once again walking back his previously negative stance on him. This year, that stance manifested into a "Like That" remix amid the Toronto rapper's many beefs and plenty of disparaging comments down the line. Perhaps the sheer defeat he faced at the hands of Kendrick Lamar made Ye more sympathetic to his plight.

Kanye West Dedicates "I Wonder" To Drake & Ian Connor

Jokes aside, some recent new footage of both Kanye West and Drake paints this picture in a more complicated fashion. Ye spoke to Candace Owens in a resurfaced 2022 interview about the 6ix God. "Drake is the best rapper ever by the numbers. Jay-Z is the greatest rapper ever by the inspiration," he remarked. It's funny that all these three artists collaborated on a song five years after Aubrey pretty much provoked Ye and Hov's Watch The Throne album in a competitive fashion.

Meanwhile, as part of his 100 GIGS footage release, Drake showed off the process behind creating the hook for Kanye West's "Yikes." As such, it's a bizarre time to view the relationship between these two titans of the music industry. Fans have as much access to their collaborative highs as they do to their pettily personal lows. We'll see whether Ye explains this dedication, and whether they will ever reconcile.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output. Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond. Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C. His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.
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