Fresh off sharing the stage with Drake at the 2025 Wireless Festival, Bryson Tiller is opening up about how much Drizzy’s music shaped his career and why his dream of joining OVO never came to life.
Sitting down with the New Rory & MAL podcast, the “Exchange” singer revealed that timing was the only reason he did not make the move. He explained that he ended up signing with RCA because Drake never got back to him before the pressure was on to make a decision. RCA, aware that Tiller had interest in OVO, made sure to keep him traveling so the two would not connect in time.
“OVO is really in my blood for real,” Tiller admitted. “I really have studied his catalog. I mean, it’s a couple people that I really consider huge strands of my musical DNA, and Drake is one of them.”
He recalled being flown from Los Angeles to Miami and then to New York, where RCA pressed him to finalize the deal before he could reach Drake. In that moment, he turned to Drake’s 2009 track “The Calm” for guidance and decided to reach out one more time.
“I sent him one last text, just to see, like, ‘Yo, man. I don’t know what to do, blah, blah, blah,’ and he never hit me back. And I know he’s a busy, super busy dude, so not saying he didn’t want me to sign or whatever, but at that moment, I got a kid, and I got people back home looking at me like, ‘Is he gon’ do it? Is he gon’ make it?’ So I had to go with the most sure shot.”
Podcast co-host Rory suggested that Drake’s superstar grind at that time likely kept him from focusing on developing new talent. He even compared it to The Weeknd’s decision not to sign to OVO, suggesting that the Canadian singer may have felt, “could be just as big as you, so why would I sign to you?”
Even though the deal never happened, Tiller’s words show the deep influence Drake has had on his artistry and the respect he still carries for the OVO movement.