Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
Drake’s The Best in the World two-pack arrived just over 24 hours after his Toronto Raptors claimed the NBA Championship trophy, and amongst his usual list of collaborators was an unfamiliar name: Lil CC. Drake shouts her out multiple times on the song, including the line “Lil CC let it slap with the bass” on the chorus.
Lil CC is Cydney Christine, who (before the release of Drake’s new song) was best known for her successful modeling career. She spoke about landing her very first production placement on Drake’s track in a new interview with Complex.
CC explained that she ran into Drake at a post-Grammys party earlier this year, more than two years after first telling him about her ambitions as a producer. “When I ran into him at that event, he came up to me and he was like, ‘CC, are you still making beats?’” she said. “I was like, ‘I kind of just model now, but I have been playing with it.’ And he was like, ‘Man, you got to send me something.’”
She linked up with her cousin Ljay Currie (who also has a production credit on the song) to help her put together a beat pack. “I sent Drake a pack of probably like 10 beats. He picked the one I named ‘Money in the Grave,’” she said. Drake sent her a video of himself recording to the beat several months later, and let her know a few days beforehand that he planned to drop it after the Raptors' victory. Rick Ross' verse, she said, was added at the last minute.
Drake used her title for the song, weaving it into the chorus:
In the next life, I’m tryna stay paid
When I die, put my money in the grave
Although this is her very first song placement, CC said she’s been interested in music since she was young. “It was just more of a hobby,” she told Complex. “I’m more into beats than anything. I always pay attention to the beat and listen to how they made it, counting the different sounds that they use in different beats. Ever since I was a little kid, I would do that.”
Despite the success of producers and producer-artists like WondaGurl, TRAKGIRL and Yung Baby Tate, hip-hop production still skews heavily male. CC said that she wants to inspire more women to get behind the boards.
“The music business is full of men, and I want more women to be into this. I want more females to actually try it, at least. They might actually sound hard. I just want them to try it,” she said, also noting that she wants to produce for female artists. “My goal right now, though, is I really want to work with female artists.”
Earning her first song credit ever with the world’s biggest rapper is certainly a good place to start her music career.
Read Complex’s full interview here and catch up on all the lyrics to Drake’s “Money in the Grave” featuring Rick Ross on Genius now.
