Akon recently sat down with DJ Vlad for a lengthy interview where he talked about how he had the chance to sign Drake early on but passed. According to Akon, Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall hipped him to Drake’s music in 2005—though he is likely misremembering the year as Drake didn’t begin his music career until 2006—but Akon thought he sounded like another rapper.
“At the time, believe it or not, Drake sounded more like Eminem,” said Akon, who added he knew about Drake just before “Best I Ever Had” blew up, which means it was likely closer to 2009. “With that demo that I heard, he sounded more like Em. But I think that’s every artist’s development. You can see the difference between that demo and ‘Best I Ever Had.’ It was completely different.”
Akon’s comments may surprise some listeners as Drake has often noted how rappers like Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Phonte influenced him but he hasn’t been compared to Eminem often. Drake did end up working with Em on the song “Forever” in 2009, the same year “Best I Ever Had” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Akon also recalled how as “Best I Ever Had” was blowing up, everyone in the industry was trying to sign Drake.
“He was negotiating with everybody, it was like this huge bidding war,” said Akon. “And that’s when [Kardinal Offishall] was like, ‘N-gga, I told you this n-gga was gonna be the sh-t.’ I said, ‘Well, reach out.’ He said, ‘You can, but the lowest bid right now is a million.’ I said, ‘Sh-t, I ain’t got a million dollars.’”
Akon mentioned how Sylvia Rhone (currently the Chairman and CEO of Epic Records) had the best chance to sign Drake but was more focused on Trey Songz at the time. Akon’s recollection seems to match Drake’s lyrics on the So Far Gone cut “Say What’s Real” when he rapped:
I’ve always been something that these labels can’t buy
Especially if they tryin' to take a piece of my soul
And Sylvia be tellin' Tez, “Damn, Drake fly”
And he just be like, “Silly motherfucker, I know
That was your bad, how could you pass up on ‘em?
He just take them records and he gas up on 'em
Wayne will prolly put a million cash up on 'em
In the end, Drake signed with Young Money/Cash Money and became one of the biggest stars in music today. Akon added that Drake was worth every penny because he’s a “genius” who was able to change musical styles throughout his career.
Akon may have missed out on Drake, but he did find massive success by signing Lady Gaga, which he also spoke about in his interview with DJ Vlad. Watch the clip above.
