Drake 'n Kid Cudi
Sharing The Spotlight
By: Adam Bernard
Last updated July 8th , 2009

Kid Cudi and Drake are two of the hottest up and coming artists in Hip-Hop today. Kid Cudi, the former Cleveland native, now Brooklynite, already has a monster hit under his belt with "Day and Night," has an album due to hit stores at the end of August, and was featured on Kanye West's 808's & Heartbreak. Meanwhile, Toronto, Canada's, Drake has a hit of his own with "Best I Ever Had," has a famous affiliation with Lil' Wayne, and is known by a bevy TV viewers for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Many people might expect these two emcees to be at each other's throats as they look to climb the ladder to the top. Many people might expect a diss track or two as a promotional tactic. There was a time, however, when people's presumptions weren't like this at all.

In the mid to late 90's Hip-Hop was a very different place. The biggest emcees not only had no problem working with each other, but did so on a regular basis. Jay-Z worked with Biggie, Ja Rule and DMX. Nas worked with AZ. Outkast worked with Goodie Mob. Beefs and battles only came about as a result of actual personal problems rather than a want for press and publicity.

It turns out Kid Cudi and Drake would have fit in perfectly in that era as they were more than happy to share the spotlight for this interview where they opened up about their music, explained how they're dealing with the pressures that come with being rising stars, and discussed unity and the prospect of working together. Welcome to the future of Hip-Hop.


101D.com: First of all, thank you both for agreeing to do this feature. Start everyone off with a little bit of personal history. What inspired each of you to pick up a mic?

Kid Cudi: I was 15 when I first decided that I wanted pursue music professionally. I wanted to be a cartoonist from the fourth grade up until high school. That's when I came up with the idea to do music because I was young and I felt like I had a lot to say that wasn't being said in the music that I liked to listen to. I did open mic contests and freestyle battles to try to sharpen up my lyrics  I used to listen to Jadakiss' shit and tried to study his raps to better my own. It was probably the first thing in my life I ever took seriously. I started writing when I was like 12, when my father passed away, but then it was more like poems, ways to express myself.

Drake: I'm big on self-expression, [too], and although acting is a great form of self-expression sometimes it's a little too spread out when you're not like an A-list actor. It's frustrating when you want to work and you can't. There are a lot of things that need to fall in place before you can actually do what you want to do and although Degrassi was a great show, it was kind of becoming an easy role to me and I wanted to be able to do something I could do myself. I had always loved music, so I just started doing it. It's something you can really build on your own. You can write anytime. You can record anytime. It gave me a little more freedom and I became extremely passionate about it.


101D.com: Topically, what can people look forward to hearing from each of you?

Kid Cudi: On this album it's a lot of self-conflict and a lot of personal things that I express about myself and my character, the things that I've been dealing with on a daily basis since I came to New York to pursue music five years ago. This album is basically telling that story from then to now and is about my life in general; why I am the way I am, what my faults are, the things I think about, these dreams that I have, these visions, these nightmares, all the things that I deal with in hopes that people can understand and be like "oh shit, I'm not alone" and feel like they can better themselves, or get through whatever things they feel they can't overcome. There are a lot of things that I've been through that I just felt like I couldn't get through, even some simple shit like being dumped by a girl you were really in love with, or being cheated on, or losing a loved one. There's a lot of stuff on this album that a lot of people are going to be able to relate to and connect with.

Drake: It's all about connecting with an audience. My lane are those genuine and authentic human emotions and feelings that people truly connect with and they can chuckle and laugh at because they can be like "aw yeah, I went through that last week," or "I know somebody that acts exactly like that." Honesty about myself and just the small things in life that people can relate to, that's my lane.  


101D.com: What's the biggest sacrifice you've made for music?

Kid Cudi: Ultimately the biggest sacrifice to me is putting myself in these records, exposing myself. This album is naked.

Drake: My health (laughs). It's rough being out here on the road every day. I just had to name my touring company and I named it Away From Home. That's where we are. We're always in hotels. We're always hitting up Wal-Mart or Macy's to buy socks and boxers. It's a constant grind and you hear people talk about it, but you never really realize how much work this actually takes.


101D.com: So if someone wants to find their favorite artist that's out on tour they should go to their local Wal-Mart and hang out in the sock section.

Drake:  Yeah. If you want to catch your favorite celebrity just hit up any Wal-Mart. 


101D.com: The buzz both of you have right now is incredible. Has it created any added pressure?

Kid Cudi:  It did up until recently. Now I'm a little bit more chill because the album is almost completed and I know that I got some really phenomenal shit on there, so now I'm feeling more confident in myself. Also, you can't be worried so much about what's gonna happen. I kinda just do things. I have a plan and I just do it, but I always try to make sure that my moves are in a positive motion because being that I don't think and I just do things and I don't care about the repercussions, I don't want to use that power in the wrong sense. It's something I'm still trying to control, but I'm using it in the right manner now.

Drake: I think it's what every artist strives for. It's a pressure that a new artist should feel. It's a pressure to deliver a product that people can say lived up to the hype. That's the urge to be creative, that's the urge to make great music, and that's not a negative pressure, that's a little competitive edge that we should all feel. I feel like I really have something to live up to. It's a great thing.


101D.com: Have you gotten the chance to check out each other's music?

Kid Cudi: Yeah, I've heard Drake's stuff and it sounds like he's got some shit, man.

Drake: I'm actually a big fan of Cudi's. I have the Kid Named Cudi mixtape on my phone and "Day and Night" is obviously one of the biggest songs in a long time.


101D.com: Any thoughts on collaborating on anything past an interview?

Drake: I would love to. Cudi's probably the one person that I really believe if we did collaborate it could do some serious damage.  Honestly, I can say on record that I have nothing but love for Cudi. Every time I hear something good about him I'm happy because I know we're on the same climb. I always feel his accomplishments as if they were mine.

Kid Cudi: Hopefully we can do something before the deadline of my album. If not I plan on doing a whole bunch of more music with a lot more artists, so it's definitely bound to happen.


101D.com: At this point you're going to find instigators who are looking for you two to beef as you've both reached the level of fame where rumors and speculation start to become prevalent. Have you found ways to deal with this?

Drake: It's so funny that you mention that because the other night somebody that I wouldn't expect tried to instigate something between me and him. You kinda have to take everything with a grain of salt. We're both mature people. I think it's just a matter of us communicating if there ever were to be anything, but right now everything is so lovely for both of us that there's no way that there could be an issue, so I don't even think about it when people say things.

 
Kid Cudi: The fact that people are talking and saying something is pretty cool, but the fans know the real and Drake knows what it is. When I see him it's daps and pounds, that's the homey. I've known Drake for a minute now. I used to see him when I was in Toronto doing my little shows when no one was really fuckin with me. We basically came up together, so that's the homey right there and I got nothing but love for dude. I know that he's gonna kill shit and I'm gonna kill shit and it's gonna be like'97 again when you had Jay-Z, DMX, Nas, Ja Rule, you had all these great artists and they were all killin' shit in their own right.


 

101D.com: So you feel there's room for more than one great artist in a genre.

Kid Cudi: Exactly, and because music is supposed to be different flavors. The only thing I feel like we (artists) need to do a little bit more of is say more important shit, say more things that actually matter at the end of the day. You really gotta understand that this music is helping people deal with their troubles and whether you're rapping about just having fun, or you're rapping about self-righteousness, just make sure it's important. Make sure that the kids get it and it's gonna be something that they want to live with forever.

Drake: I feel like the great thing about me and Cudi is that we're a new breed of artist. We are the artists for this generation where people want more. Just being a rapper, or just being a singer, doesn't cut it anymore, you have to offer people a package nowadays and I think that me and Cudi are kind of the prototypes of the new breed of artist.


101D.com: Finally, are there any skeletons in your respective closets that you'd like to get out now, before some gossip columnist finds and sensationalizes it?

Drake: Nah, I'm proud of the way I've lived my life. I'm not worried about any gossip or anything getting out. For the future, I don't know, I'm not sure what trouble I'll find myself in {laughs}, but as of now I'm in the clear. I've lived right for a long time and I did it for this exact reason, so that when I arrived here at a place where skeletons can hurt I'd be alright. Thank you for that opportunity, though.

Kid Cudi: I got a lower back tattoo. (laughs) Nah, I'm just joking! I discovered one of my buddies has one, though! I'm not gonna say his name because he's a well known person, but we used to do business together. He knows who he is. He's my homey.


To listen to Drake's mixtape Friends With Money, click here.

[Tags] Feature, Hip Hop, Rap