Started from the bottom, now he’s here: Yes, Drake once made $100 opening for Ice Cube
Drake revealed Tuesday on Instagram that he was paid $100 to open for Ice Cube at the beginning of his career.
The Canadian rapper confirmed the amount after the Flyer Vault — an Instagram account documenting Toronto club and concert history — shared an expense report from a 2006 concert at Toronto’s Kool Haus headlined by Ice Cube. According to the Flyer Vault, Drake performed songs from his debut mixtape, “Room for Improvement,” while opening for the hip-hop legend.
Drake shared the Flyer Vault’s post on his Instagram story with the caption, “This is for anybody getting 100 a show right now ... Keep going.”
Composed almost entirely of club music jams in which he raps as little as he ever has, Drake’s seventh studio album marks a change in course.
The reveal comes days after Pitchfork reported that Drake and fellow Canadian musician the Weeknd have declined to submit their music to the Recording Academy for Grammys consideration for the second year in a row.
In December 2021, Drake withdrew the Grammy nominations he received for his album, “Certified Lover Boy,” and his single, “Way 2 Sexy.” The four-time Grammy winner — who also chose not to submit his 2017 mixtape “More Life” for consideration — has long been critical of the awards show and the Recording Academy.
In 2019, he was famously cut off while accepting the rap song Grammy for “God’s Plan.” During his truncated speech, Drake said, “We play an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport. ... You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if they’re singing in your hometown. You’re already winning, you don’t need this right here.”
The first COVID-era dance album that actually sounds like catching a superflu at a warehouse party, it’ll likely be the most divisive record of his career.
The following year, the “One Dance” hitmaker voiced his support for the Weeknd, who called the Grammys “corrupt” after music from his hit album “After Hours” was shut out of the competition.
After the Weeknd snub ignited a backlash, the Recording Academy restructured its voting process — accused of perpetuating institutional racism in the music industry — in an effort to make the Grammys more inclusive.
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” Drake said at the time on Instagram.
“It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just won’t change their ways.”
As Beyoncé vs. Adele showdown looms, 2023 Grammys could be most star-studded, and fraught, in memory
Not only will the two A-list divas likely be vying for top honors, they could be competing against Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar.
The “Sticky” artist also has suggested that the Grammys — which have been criticized for excluding hip-hop and R&B artists from the marquee categories — be replaced with “something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
Drake released his latest studio album, “Honestly, Nevermind,” in June.
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