Recently, DJ Akademiks claimed that hours after Young Thug’s release, Drake allegedly gifted the Thug $1 million in cash. Talk about a friend. Think about that. Get out of jail, where your life is on the line, and you win five out of six numbers on Mega Millions. That’s pretty much the equivalent.
Get this: during a live stream, Akademiks shared an insider story, saying, “Y’all want to hear this play I heard? Watch, he gon’ hit me up, like, ‘Yo, how you heard?’ ‘Cause he ain’t tell me. That’s my mans. When Thug gets let out of jail, the talk is this: they say two hours afterwards, Drake flew to Thug and allegedly gave him a mil’.” Akademiks went on to say, “Drake didn’t tell me this. Drake gon’ hit me up and be, like, ‘Who told you this?’”
As you may expect, neither Drake nor Young Thug have confirmed the details of Akademiks’ claim. The media personality has often proven to be a reliable source of information, particularly regarding the relationship between the two rappers. He was notably an early informant on the 6 God’s public feud with Kendrick Lamar and had accurate knowledge of Drake’s upcoming music drops. Given the long-standing relationship between the two, it’s not entirely surprising that Drake would offer such a gesture, though time will tell if the story holds true.
Let’s take yall back to the good ol’ days … Drake and Young Thug have been frequent collaborators since 2017, with standout tracks like “Sacrifices,” “D4L,” “Solid,” “Bubbly,” and “Oh U Went.” Over the years, Drake has been one of Thug’s most vocal supporters, especially following his 2022 arrest. On “Sticky,” he rapped, “Free Big Slime out the cage,” showing his strong desire for Thug’s freedom.
The collabs continued with more public support. On the August 2023 track “It’s Up,” featuring 21 Savage, Drake rapped, “I can’t sleep at night with Thug at Cobb County Corrections / I think he did enough reflectin’, I think my brother learned his lesson.” In October 2023, Drake revealed that he had been financially supporting Thug throughout his legal battles, writing on Instagram, “I ain’t talking to talk man I really put up [bread emoji] on the [briefcase emoji] 3 Jeff.”
ICYMI, before Thug’s remarkable release after accepting that insanely beneficial plea deal, he expressed similar camaraderie, showing support for Drake, Metro Boomin, and Future in an October post on X. He wrote, “We all bruddas. Music ain’t the same without us collabin,” tagging all three stars in a call for peace. It seems that Young Thug, with his unifying energy, may play a role in mending the rift between these artists, possibly leading to more collaborations in the future.
Sheesh, wouldn’t it be nice to have a (real) friend like Drake.