In an interview with Village Voice, Drizzy revealed what a big fan of battle rap he is and name dropped a few of his favorite on the popular battle scene, like Iron Solomon. He also explains why A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar were the right fit for his Club Paradise tour. Check it out below.
What drew you to A$AP Rocky, and what advice have you given him about stepping up to be the the three million dollar man?
I like his fascination with Houston culture; I’ve always been fascinated by the same thing. I like that it’s less about just him and more about his crew, which is how I live my life. Drake is not one person; Drake is all of us, you know? I like that a lot. And then when I met him he was just so cordial. Like he brought me a bottle of Cristal to where I was DJing at, which was very classy of him. He invited me to his show and even came to the back door and made sure we were good; he’s just a very great person. He’s a very talented guy, and there’s not really much advice to give somebody like that. If he ever asks me about anything I’d be more than happy to have a conversation with him, but he’s a good person and he’s already on the right path. Much like Kendrick Lamar as well, another guy who’s just a great person, good heart, good team around him. I like people like that.
You said you get inspiration from watching battles. What makes the the battle scene inspiring for you?
I’m a huge fan of the battle scene. I’ve always been a fan of Hollow Da Don. Obviously The-Saurus is nasty; Iron Solomon is nasty. I always watch the URL TV battles even though I was really mad at the last one they did because the sound was so bad. But yeah, it gets me excited in the studio, to watch these rappers, to see them rap for a whole different cause. I rap to make albums; I rap to make radio records. But these guys prep for these competitions where my heart would be beating out of my chest if I ever stepped to another guy and I had to battle him [for] three rounds, long-ass rounds with so many raps to remember. So I get very inspired by that, seeing other people doing the same thing but doing it so differently.
