Drake Reminds Us Who His Favorite Dancehall Deejays Are
OVO Sound tycoon Drake makes no apologies for who his favorite Dancehall artists are and while he reminds us on a regular basis that he considers the Unruly Boss Popcaan his “brother”, he’s also made it known that he is pretty stoked about Dancehall’s Fresh Prince Skillibeng.
In the Canadian rapper’s Instagram Stories early this morning, there was a photo of Popcaan and Skillibeng from their cameo appearances in Koffee’s Lockdown video. Another slide followed with Popcaan toasting during an interlude or intro. Flexing his fluid emcee limericks, the 876Gud shouts out his OVO entourage and issues his usual slew of intimation on the new recording, which Drake captioned “srrrrong widdem?”
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The out-of-the-blue shout-outs allude that something might just be in the works, or it could be that the 6Gud was feeling a little left out after he shared a third Instagram slide of Popcaan hanging with Jamaican rapper Bakersteez, and Takeoff and Quavo from the rap trio Migos. The trio are in Jamaica working with DJ Khaled on his new album.
Popcaan was signed to Drake’s Toronto-based record label OVO Sound and Warner Records back in 2016. Since then he released his fourth studio album, the FIXTAPE in 2020 which featured Drake on two of the singles, All I Need and Twist & Turn, which snagged him chart success in the UK and Canada. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums Charts, then at No. 13 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and No. 94 on the Billboard 200 Charts.
Drake and Popcaan’s work relationship has produced several video shoots and appearances in Jamaica plus other collaborations, some of which we’re still waiting to hear and see. The Canadian rapper has also been featured on Popcaan’s Unruly Fest roster, which is held in the Family deejay’s hometown of St. Thomas, Jamaica.
They’ve been known for their friendship outside of work, from frequently vacaying, traveling, and partying together to the unconditional support on social media and in feuds. Who can forget Drizzy’s daring charge on Popcaan’s nemesis, Mavado last year? The Life Is Good rapper had supposedly thrown subliminal disses towards the Gully Gad in a freestyle over some prior misunderstanding to which Mavado clapped back. Drake again dished some disparaging remarks at “some bwoy” who simply couldn’t catch up with Popcaan when his FIXTAPE dropped in August last year, leaving fans to assume that he was again referring to the Father God artist.
Last month, Drake also shouted out the EastSyde star boy on his OVO Sound Radio found on SiriusXM’s SOUND 42 Channel. The nod came via a tag on Drake’s Instagram Story while Skillibeng’s Crocodile Teeth blared from the speakers.
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Despite the backlash Drake has received for being a “culture vulture”, he still reps Jamaica hard. Last month, his collab with Rick Ross on the Lemon Pepper Freestyle found him dropping slick bars with a huge salute to Jamaica that had some fans calling for a link-up with his Jamaican “brother” and his Dancehall affiliates.
After Drake’s Instagram share today, it looks like he’s one step ahead of the fans and another Popcaan and Skillibeng collab could becoming after they first joined forces on FIXTAPE‘s Have It with Unruly deejay Quada.