The month of August (2013) marks the 16th anniversary of XXL magazine, and Drake is the man of the month as he graces the cover of for their 150th issue. With his third album, Nothing Was the Same, set to drop next month on the 17th, he chatted with XXL’s Tom Golianopoulos about all things Drizzy; from the new LP, his non-hood background, even Amanda Bynes’ shocking Twitter confession regarding wanting (for lack of better words) *ahem* the D from the “Starting From the Bottom” rapper.
Speaking on the new album, Drake said with all the veterans are dropping discs this year, he wants to stand out. “I’m going to be like the kid waving in the background in the photo with all of his tall relatives,” he said about trying to fit in on this year’s hip-hop landscape. “I think I am going for it, to really establish what are murmurs or things being said quietly, “Um, I think that Drake might actually…” On September 17th I want people to be like, “Oh, we were right.”
Having taken a lot of flack for his sensitive rhymes at times, Drake said his image and background as an actor on the teen show “Degrassi: The Next Generation” actually helped his success. “If I was from somewhere in America and if I hadn’t been on a kids TV show, would I be as famous? Honestly, I don’t think so…And I haven’t become anything else while I’ve been in this position. It’s not like I got here and was like, “Oh, got to switch up my image. I feel like maybe a lot of these guys do. How old are you, really? What is your background, really?” he said, questioning other rapper’s authenticity.
He even addressed the famous tweets about him from actress Amanda Bynes; one day she’s calling him ugly and the next, she’s tweeting that she wants the rapper’s bedroom game in the most destructive way. But he thinks the person behind those tweets may not even be the troubled actress. “I don’t even know who that is doing that or what that’s about,” he said. “If that is her, I guess it’s a little weird and disturbing. It’s obviously a behavioral pattern that is way bigger than me. Whoever is behind it, whether it’s her or somebody else, they know people are paying attention so they keep it going.”
Get August’s issue of XXL on August 20.