Drake might be the biggest pop star on earth right now but he's ultimately a student of hip-hop. Acts like Kanye West, Cam'ron, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne have clearly been influential in his sounds, as he's admitted in the past, as well as R&B artists like Aaliyah, Sade, and Usher. However, he's a student of the rap game, first and foremost, and last night, he hit the 'Gram to pay homage to a few artists that he might not credit as often as he should for influencing him.
"Spent my night listening to some of the greatest ever," he wrote in the first of eight Instagram Story posts where he showed love to a few artists he's worked with in the past and some that are on his bucket list of collaborators, apparently. Among them are Elzhi, Phonte, Dwele, Slum Village, MF Doom, The Roots, and Cody Chesnutt.
For those familiar with Drake's ATF/October's Very Own Blogspot days, the rapper has collaborated with several of these artists in his early career. Not only has Drake called Phonte one of his biggest influences but they also worked together on "Think Good Thoughts" alongside Elzhi. Dwele and Little Brothe also linked up with Drake on "Don't You Have A Man." He's also sampled The Roots and Slum Village in some of his recent work as well.
As for MF Doom, the rapper has previously paid homage to the masked MC in the past while sparking speculation of a collab in the works. Although that's never been confirmed, Drake did rap over "Accordion" with Nickelus F back in the day.
