The ultimate co-sign in today’s generation of hip-hop comes from none other than Drizzy Drake. From iLoveMakonnen to PartyNextDoor, he’s lent a helping hand to several cats who’ve all gone on to be platinum-selling, award-winning artists.
Aside from Migos and Fetty Wap, Drake’s signed most of the artists he’s given his stamp of approval to. As of late, things have been quiet in terms of artists that may be on the team’s radar, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their ear to the underground.
Check out these four artists that have all had some sort of connection to Drake recently, as I think they all have a chance at being his next big signing.
Roy Wood$
Roy Wood$ is an upcoming Toronto artist that has been garnering enough buzz on his own lately, but could definitely be one of the next artists that Drake pushes to sign. Especially after his cameo in Drake’s recently-released “Energy” video, the Woods-OVO connection has grown that much stronger.
It’s funny, I wrote that last sentence yesterday afternoon before the OVO radio show on Beats1, on which Drake debuted new music with Roy Wood$, which heats things up quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?
Anyways, Roy has been riding a nice wave since the release of his “All Of You” track that has been making the rounds on the internet and has garnered many remixes from producers and DJs alike. Overall, Wood$ fits the sonic stature of an OVO artist, but it’s his unique flavor as an artist that could be what really makes him stick out in the eyes of Aubrey.
Throw in a follow on Twitter from Drake’s right hand man and in-house producer 40, and the possibility of Wood$ to OVO is that much more plausible.
Ramriddlz
Awhile back, Drake let loose a 15-second snippet of him rapping over a mystery beat, which was later uncovered as the instrumental for “Sweeterman,” an unpolished, yet still promising track from a Canadian emcee by the name of Ramriddlz. Last night, on Beats1, Drake premiered his official remix of the track, which definitely shines a brighter spotlight on riddlz.
There had been virtually no buzz surrounding the T Dot artist, but once the initial word got out about his possible connection to Drake, the original track took off and his popularity soared. Before last night, things had been quiet on the Drake-Ramriddlz front for a bit, but he hasn’t done anything but get better as an artist, while also getting much better, more professional beats and engineering.
Only time will tell if he’s truly been on Drizzy’s radar, but it’s not farfetched to think there’s something brewing here.
Cousin Stizz
This one is more of a theory than anything else, but it isn’t crazy to think that Cousin Stizz could be one of the next OVO signees. Aside from the apparent talent, bounds of potential and his excellent new project Suffolk County, Stizz would be a nice fit with the OVO squadron. This is largely because he’s not like PND and The Weeknd—he’s a rapper plain and simple, and frankly already has a few hits under his belt that are vastly under-appreciated (see “Fresh Prince,” “No Bells,” and “I Got It”). That being said, it was his undeniable hit “Shoutout” that first sparked the rumors of him potentially being the next to receive a co-sign, as that was Drake’s song of choice while celebrating his most recent birthday at Dave & Buster’s.
What I also think could possibly be the case here is that Drake may seem some of himself in Stizz, artistically I mean. Sure, they clearly have their differences in styles, but anyone that knows of them both will tell you they make anthems on anthems.
Granted, Drake’s are obviously on a bigger scale, but the impact of Stizz’s music is clear whenever he releases new stuff—he makes the soundtrack for a lot of people’s days (even lives), including myself, as does Drake. One could argue that this comes down to a person’s specific musical preference, but give both artists’ last project a listen. From strong lyrical content to incredibly catchy and infectious hooks that seemingly sweep entire regions, Stizz has a bit more in common with Drizzy than you may think.
Throw in his friendship with OVO’s most recent signee iLoveMakonnen, and there’s definitely a solid possibility of something here.
Bryson Tiller
Bryson Tiller is probably the most likely of these cats to have already been signed to OVO, as there’s been a lot of connections between he the Toronto-based squad over the past several months.
From Drake posting pictures with him on IG, to semi-secret meetings with 40, to signed, limited-edition OVO Jordan XII’s—there’s been a good amount of back-and-forth here.
Tiller did remix Drizzy’s “How Bout Now” about six months ago, which could have been what first sparked things/caught Drake’s attention. He’s also collaborated with Syk Sense, a southern producer whose credits are littered with Drake’s name. That might just be a coincidence, but it also might not be.
Tiller fits the mold of an OVO artist sonically, with his super-smooth and polished voice, as well as his seamless meshing of singing and rapping leading the way on each track. We will have to wait and see how this one plays out, but there’s definitely something there.
[…] Source: DailyChiefers […]