The saga of Drake’s career may one day become known as a how-to manual on how to rise, fall, then rise again. In July of 2015, Meek Mill sent out perhaps his most infamous tweet, implying that Drake doesn’t write his own raps.
Stop comparing drake to me too…. He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out! ?
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
Who was the person behind Drake’s writing? As told by Meek Mill, it was Quentin Miller. Miller did, in fact, have writing credits on Drake’s 2015 mixtape If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late.
The tweet mixed with the allegation caused a firestorm and damaged Drake’s reputation. Luckily, Drake’s skill as an artist has helped him weather the storm, in which he supplied a diss track toward Meek titled “Back To Back” and released the Grammy-Award winning “Hotline Bling” around the same time. This helped put him somewhat back into the good graces of the average music consumer.
The release of Views continued Drake’s rise back to the top of the mainstream, but the ghostwriting shadow of Miller continued to loom on his reputation. His 2017 playlist More Life was the most streamed project of 2017 and put him back in contention as a serious artist. But this time, because of his damaged reputation, he had to take a backseat to Kendrick Lamar. Lamar was now seen as hip hop’s king and represented authenticity. Drake still provided the hits, but a question mark always followed his writing integrity.
Moving on to 2018, and Drake has seen a critical resurgence to match his popularity. “God’s Plan,” a track on his January EP Scary Hours, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been there for 11 weeks. “Diplomatic Immunity” debuted and peaked at number 7. His collaboration with Blocboy JB “Look Alive” is currently No. 5 on the charts and his newest single “Nice For What” is already looking to make a big impact when it debuts on the charts next week.
Boi-1da, a frequent producer for Drake who has worked with him since the start of his career, always championed Drake’s writing skills. He’s produced some of Drake’s biggest hits, including “God’s Plan,” “Know Yourself,” and “Headlines.” Having a hand in his career, 1da has collaborated with Drake enough to provide legit insight. So with Drake having a strong start to 2018, 1da championed Drake’s songwriting skills on the RapRadar’s podcast and addressed the ghostwriting notion that plagued Drake’s career, as well.
“I think Drake is literally one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and he writes his own songs,” he said. “And for someone to try and discredit somebody who I’ve literally seen write songs like he’s writing an essay, it bothers me because I’m close to it. I know he writes his own songs.”
On Quentin Miller:
“They collaborated on some songs,” he said. “Quentin is really dope, but somebody just made some fake narrative of Drake writing in sweatshops and all this stuff. It’s just not true man.”
Free smoke, free smoke! act @Boi1da respond to @drake ghostwriter rumors #RapRadarPodcast @tidal https://t.co/m1TizIhnD5 pic.twitter.com/C8MRRy8MM5
— brian b.dot™ miller (@bdotTM) April 10, 2018
Boi-1da is right that people will believe whatever they feel is true, but you can’t dispute a hit. Drake’s music lately has put him back in the favor of many, but 2015, while having its hits, also had a huge miss, too. As Drake announced, another album is in the works which means it’s another chance to redeem himself. With what he’s done so far, Drake may have another banger on his hands.
