Popcaan Talks New Song ‘Skeleton Cartier’, Working With Drake And Upcoming Album ‘Great Is He’

The OVO/Unruly duo of Canadian rapper Drake and Dancehall artist Popcaan have teamed up again, but this time to market sneakers.  Naturally, Popcaan has the complementary soundtrack for the endeavor, titled Skeleton Cartier, which made its debut on Friday.

On Thursday (March 3), Drake released his first signature shoe, the NOCTA x Nike Hot Step Air Terra. The sneaker is a brainchild of Drake’s Nike sub-line NOCTA and features a retro-inspired silhouette that’s been overhauled with premium leather, iridescent accents, and beefy G-Tek soles. The NOCTA label is the only Nike sub-brand created for a musician — akin to Nike’s Jordan brand or Adidas’ Yeezy label with Kanye West (the latter gets a direct competitor as NOCTA launches its first sneaker).

As we previously reported, Drake enlisted Popcaan and Skillibeng for a campaign promoting the new line, which featured the two Dancehall stars in their native Jamaica.  Now we have a newly released campaign song, produced by the British DJ trio FaNaTix and released via OVO Sound.  Watch the official visualizer above.

Skeleton Cartier is also speculated to be a taste of what’s to come on Popcaan’s upcoming album, Great Is He.

“Skeleton Cartier tell dem seh mi richer dan last year/ Fresh Louis V fresh nike air
Gyal ah say Mi skin pretty dan a bike flair/ Some ah mi dog weh gone dem fi deh right here/ Big up di dawg Bramma fry him do nine year/ Some bwoy ah say dem don’t like me like I care Dem nuh see seh man ah dancehall pioneer,” the Unruly Boss spits in the hook of the track.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Popcaan, whose given name is Andrae Sutherland says Drake has laid the groundwork for other international rappers to be encouraged to collaborate with Jamaican artists.

“Drake make a lot of rappers want to be more involved in Jamaica,” Popcaan said “When he goes there, it’s a proof, it’s a stamp.”

The two, who have had a working relationship for almost seven years, have previously collaborated on Controlla (which wasn’t officially released), Twist & Turn and All I Need (off Popcaan’s FIXTAPE album).  In his talk with Rolling Stone, Popcaan hailed Drake for helping him to maximize on his potential.

“When I’m on the road with Drake, it’s a totally different experience […] It motivates me just to be in the stadium and watch a performance by Drizzy. He’s just inspiring.”

To music lovers and fans, Dancehall and hip hop might be parallel genres, but to the Everything Nice deejay, they go hand in hand, which he believes is a relationship booster between him and Drake.

“Dancehall and hip-hop is the same thing. It’s just a different country, different timezone. We spread the same message,” he further told RollingStone.

In the same breath, he says Skeleton Cartier is also a testament of his journey to success, and a homage to the less fortunate youth in St. Thomas, where he grew up.

“Where I’m from, a lot of youths can’t even afford a bicycle, much less a Cartier.”

“When I was making [Forever] I was going through a lot of things personally,” he added.

As he works on his upcoming album, Great is he, Poppy will once again be commenting on societal hardships.  “This time around it’s the same thing. And you’ve got the pandemic too, which is a whole different madness, so all those things is in the music as well.”