When Drake first shared “0 to 100 / The Catch Up” on the OVO Blog in June 2014, the track featured a James Blake sample on its second half. By the time the single hit iTunes and Spotify one month later, however, the British musician’s contribution was taken out. During a 2016 appearance on Spotify’s Secret Genius podcast which is no longer available, Blake explained why the sample was cut from the retail release.
As transcribed by The Fader, Blake said the sample came from a beat he’d sent to Drake while hoping to collaborate with the Toronto rapper. “I got an email the day before ‘0 to 100/The Catch Up’ came out. And it just said, ‘Hey we’re using this beat you made from like four years ago,’” Blake remembered. “I only sent it as a collaborative idea, not to be sampled on a record. ‘Hey we’re using this. Just quickly send me your approval so we can just put it out.’ I was like ‘No.’ So I got them to take it off.”
Later on, Blake spoke to his publisher about how much money he turned down and was shocked by the figure. “I spat out my drink. But I could have made far more money if I had taken certain opportunities, or gone to the right parties,” he admitted. “I just did it as a matter of principle at the time… And I think had they come to me beforehand and said ‘We really want to use this, what do you think?’ I probably would have said yes.”
Aside from the controversy surrounding the James Blake sample, the track also sparked a beef between Drake and Diddy. The latter rapper reportedly started a fight over the “0 to 100” beat at Miami’s LIV nightclub in December 2014. According to Diddy, he originally sent the song to Drake to ghostwrite for him, but Drake ended up keeping it for himself.
“0 to 100” co-producer Frank Dukes later spoke about the situation in a 2015 interview with Noisey:
Originally it was a three minute idea that had all these different parts and I didn’t really write it with any intent of it being used for Drake or for anyone in particular. I just kinda wrote it and gave it to Boi-1da, who was in session at the time in Miami, this was with Diddy. This was like the whole controversy of the incident. From what I understand he made the beat on the spot, played it for Diddy and Diddy passed on it, he said it wasn’t life changing enough and that was that. Then fast forward, ‘0 to 100’ becomes this huge hit and then there’s this weird… whatever happened there? I don’t know, but as far as I understand that’s how it went down.
Although “0 to 100” isn’t one of Drake’s bigger hits, it still peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In January 2015, the track was certified Platinum.
Listen to the song above, and read all the lyrics to Drake’s “0 to 100 / The Catch Up” on Genius now.
