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(Photo: Karla Moy)

This morning YN had a one on one si-tdown with Drake before the upcoming U.K. leg of his Light Dreams & Nightmares tour with J.Cole. During the talk the two spoke on possible regrets with Thank Me Later, his follow up album Take Care, more rapping and less singing, his relationship with J. Cole, the four Grammy nominations, Lil’ Wayne, the delay of his R&B mixtape Never Get Enough and recently working with Q-Tip.

One part of the conversation that stood out was Drake’s take on the exclusion from Kanye West’s “All Of The Lights”, if you remember the first version that leaked featured a verse from the Toronto rapper. Ultimately the final version featured eleven artists, none of whom being Drake (note: Kanye still credits Drake in the track liner notes on the album), which he speaks on below (1:54-4:07):

“I mean Kanye’s creative process is ever changing you know what I mean, he’s one of those guys we make music differently. I make what comes to me and I hate changing it, where as Ye will change something 30 or 40 times to get it perfect. I mean to each their own and the change was to put all those people on it and I wasn’t one of them, that’s completely ok I definitely understand the creative process and I’m happy for him. I’m happy that he had a triumphant moment after all the negativity that he’s had to endure, Ye will always be….I can never say sit here and tell you he’s not one of my idols, that’s not one of my favorite rappers. I can’t say that, whatever energy I’ve ever felt is relevant when you ask me what do I think of Kanye West I’m going to always have something positive to say.”
“I feel as if we can co-exist, I feel like hip hop is broad enough that we can both exist and give great music without feeling like it’s one or the other. But I might be the only one that feels that way, he’s part of the reason why I’m here musically. I mean one of the most inspiring people that I’ve watched grow from really Point A, when we talk about the greats like BIG, Pac , I wasn’t there the first time they dropped a record I wasn’t necessarily attentive to hip hop because I was too young I’m 24 years old. Kanye West was the first artist that I’ve watched his career span from the moment of the first freestyle, the first set of mixtapes to now. I will always have a special place for that in my heart and I’m always grateful at the opportunity to work with him.”

Props to RR

Previously: J. Cole x Drake perform “In The Morning” in NYC (Video)

Rest of the Interview after the jump…..

Previously: J. Cole x Drake perform “In The Morning” in NYC (Video)