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

BYGabriel Bras Nevares2.4K 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 staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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