From Black Coffee to Young Thug, Here Are All of Drake's Collaborators on 'More Life'
3/18/2017 by Adelle Platon
Drake's More Life made its grand debut on OVO Sound radio courtesy of Apple Music on Saturday night (March 18). After nearly six months of teasing the "playlist" project, the OVO team -- with Oliver El-Khatib hosting the show from Toronto and Drake celebrating at a dinner in London -- unleashed the 22-track set of new material, with the exception of the previously released freebie "Fake Love."
The Boy Meets World seems an appropriate name for his current tour overseas, as More Life sounds like a diverse ode to London, Toronto, the islands and all of Drake's happy places.
The project would not be complete, of course, without a wide range of features including some of Britain's finest (Giggs, Skepta), female vocalists (Jorja Smith, Snoh Aalegra), frequent co-stars (2 Chainz, Sampha, a brief appearance from Lil Wayne) and young rap gods (Quavo, Travis Scott and Young Thug).
Get more familiar with the side acts, in alphabetical order, below.
The South African producer/DJ brings the flavor to "Get It Together," which reworks Black Coffee's "Superman." His album Home Brewed also earned a South African Music Award.
He spilled the details of his Drake collaboration in an interview with East Coast Radio's Phat Joe earlier this month. "He is going to take the song to another level," he said of "Get It Together." "People are going to love his version of the song but it won't erase the original... People had mixed feelings, like, 'Why would you give someone else your song? It is your song! Why are you letting them shine on the song?' But my understanding is different. I would love for our music to be exported on that level."
The U.K. rap star makes two cameos on More Life, first on "No Long Talk" and then "KMT." Last August, he released his fourth studio effort Landlord, which peaked at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums chart and hosted the singles "Lock Doh" and "Whippin' Excursion."
Earlier this year, Drake previewed his Giggs collaboration at his show in Amsterdam and London nightclub Tape London, while also bringing him out as a special guest during a show at the O2 Arena on his The Boy Meets World trek.
More Life opens with a soulful introduction from the Australian group. "Free Smoke" hosts a sampling of "Building a Ladder," which appeared on their 2015 album Choose Your Weapon released via Salaam Remi's Flying Buddha and Sony Masterworks.
While J.Lo was romantically linked to Drake at the top of the year, she doesn't make an actual cameo on More Life. She does, however, get a call-out on Track No. 1 "Free Smoke," where the Toronto rapper claims "I drunk text J.Lo."
Her 1999 debut hit "If You Had My Love" is also sampled on "Teenage Fever." It's not clear whether this was the "collaboration" Lopez teased in a January interview with ET.
To note, "Get It Together" was the song playing in the background when she attended a Winter Wonderland prom with Drake.
Jorja Smith
The 19-year-old singer also makes two cameos on the set, even landing her own interlude. Smith dazzles on "Get It Together." Earlier this year, Drake posted a photo of her Project 11 EP on his Instagram.
Pablo makes a rare appearance on the illuminating track "Glow." The Chicago rapper sings triumphantly, "You better watch out for me / I'm bound to glow." Since 2015, Yeezy and Drizzy have teased a potential joint album. While the two have collaborated several times in the past, West most recently appeared on a version of Drake's Views cut "Pop Style," which also included Jay Z.
GLOW pic.twitter.com/I7oiRTEIzS
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 22, 2016
While the Young Money boss sadly doesn't offer a sixteen on More Life, he lights up during the outro of the happy hour-friendly "Blem."
"Good morning, good afternoon, good night. I'm here to talk about more life. One second," says Weezy, before sparking a lighter.
The OVO Sound signee hops on "Since Way Back." The Toronto rappers have previously worked on "Come and See Me," "Preach," "Recognize" and "With You."
Sampha, who has appeared on Drake's "Too Much" off Nothing Was The Same and Beyonce's "Mine" which featured the Toronto rapper, helms the sexy slow jam "4422."
Besides Jorja Smith, Skepta also has bragging rights to his own interlude. The British grime MVP has had a close relationship with Drake since both helped remix Wizkid's "Ojuelegba" in 2015. Skepta also sampled the Toronto rapper saying "trusss mi daddi" on his 2015 hit "Shutdown." They also performed together that year at Wireless Festival in London.
Skepta's album Konnichiwa peaked at No. 160 on the Billboard 200 last May.
?Producer Boi-1da samples Snoh Aalegra's "Time" on "Do Not Disturb." Signed to No I.D. ARTium label, the Swedish singer has collaborated with RZA, Common, John Mayer and Vince Staples. She dropped her Don't Explain EP last April.
Sampled my homie @snohaalegra 's voice on Do Not Disturb.
— Boi-1da (@Boi1da) March 18, 2017
Quavo
The popular Migo has made a slow of solo features in his short career, including recent hits like 2 Chainz "Good Drank" to Travis Scott's "Pick Up The Phone." Quavo lends his talents to the wavy "Portland" alongside La Flame, name-dropping athletic heroes like Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps on the hook.
La Flame heats up "Portland" alongside Quavo. Drake and Scott last joined forces on "Company" off 2015's If You're Reading This It's Too Late.
Thugger puts in work on two tracks: "Sacrifices" and "Ice Melts." A guest on The Boy Meets World tour, Young Thug praised Drake in a now-deleted Instagram post, writing, "Thanks for this journey my brada... u 1 of the realist rappers I know... very GgenuinNe man and brada, I love the way u treat me and respect me and my heart!!! YOU R NUN LIKE THESE OTHER RAPPERS. I mean ALL OF EM.... And for that I'm with u foreva! --"
Hits like ?"No Lie," "All Me" and "Big Amount" have cemented Chainz and Drake's hot streak, and both bring the same heat to "Sacrifices." In February, Tity Boi confirmed he was working with the 6 God for More Life as well as his own project Pretty Girls Like Trap Music. He said of their studio time, "It wasn't easy though. Drake is a perfectionist. I like to rap and I'm a perfectionist, but it was just about getting that record that we felt would hold some kind of substance that we could listen to over time like the previous records that we have. We have some pretty timeless pieces so I think that's what we're working on -- more timeless pieces."