Call it the Treaty of Toronto. Though their animosity has been one of the reigning narratives in hip-hop culture these last few years, it appears that Drake and Kanye West have reached a new, harmonious phase of their relationship. The amends seem to have been made official at a function in Drake’s Toronto home, and supported by November 16 Instagram posts from the two and J. Prince, rap’s most intimidating mogul-turned-peacebroker.
Beyond the posed photos, the best indication their rekindled friendship is for real comes from the blurry selfie video of Drake and Kanye mugging for the camera with their arms around each other (soundtracked by Certified Lover Boy’s “Knife Talk”). It’s the kind of goofy flexing you typically only do with someone you actually like. Though the two lobbed shots back and forth on their respective 2021 releases, it seems the help of Prince and Larry Hoover, Jr. got these two mercurial megastars to reconcile.
Given the pair’s penchant for dramatics and the years of bad blood that preceded this moment, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Kanye-Drake détente only lasts a short while, but here are some of the potential ripple effects if this accord holds long term.
Maybe we’ll finally get that Calabasas collaboration album.
Back in 2016, a series of Los Angeles billboards bearing the G.O.O.D. Music and OVO logos seemed to portend a long-awaited Kanye-Drake joint LP. “Calabasas is the new Abu Dhabi,” they read, a reference to the ritzy L.A. neighborhood where they both reside. West confirmed they were making music together in a September 2016 Vogue conversation.
Drake and Kanye’s last official collaboration, 2017’s “Glow,” felt undercooked, but it did contain yet another Abu Dhabi reference, suggesting it was made around the time this record was in the works.
It’s definitely an extrapolation to go from years of bad blood to a few photos together to getting back in the studio, but it’s the natural leap that a lot of fans will make, since mythical collab albums still drive a huge amount of rap discourse. (There are still folks out there holding out hope for a Kendrick Lamar-J. Cole project., after all) Neither artist is at the absolute peak of their powers, but perhaps working together will reinvigorate them.
Hip-hop’s scariest boss is happy.
Rap-a-Lot CEO J. Prince is hip-hop’s most fearsome power broker, and even superstars like Drake and Kanye shouldn’t want to be on his bad side. Back in 2018, Prince was reportedly the one who stopped Drake from releasing a career-ending Kanye diss track, and he’s played a role behind the scenes in this reconciliation.
On November 11, Prince was photographed with Drake and Hoover, Jr. He’s also present in the November 16 picture of Drake and Kanye, flashing finger guns and repping for the wired headphone resurgence. Those who know Prince well have said he was raised by wolves, and that he’s like the boogeyman of southern hip-hop, so we have to assume that when the 56-year-old mogul wants a feud squashed it gets squashed.
It’s unclear what role Prince will have in the two stars working together in the future, but the best possible outcome would be a Drake-Kanye album kicked off with one of his signature, slow-as-molasses intros. Even if that doesn’t happen, the world is a better, less frightening place with a pleased J. Prince.
Pusha T will have plenty of material for disses.
After upending the narrative around Drake with 2018’s “The Story of Adidon,” it’s safe to call Pusha T the poet laureate of Drake disses. Pusha challenged the mythos of rap’s biggest star with an underdog’s vigor, like a no. 16 seed splashing threes on the top team in the NCAA tournament. Pusha is still close with Kanye, and he wrote on several tracks for DONDA, including the version of “Life of the Party” that featured bars aimed pointedly at Drake.
His next album–one he thinks is even better than 2018’s exemplary Daytona–is on the horizon, and it’s hard to imagine Pusha resisting the urge to make at least some allusion to the Drake-Kanye peace summit. Remember, the A-listers’ feud was fairly dormant until Pusha dropped the Daytona track “Infrared,” which reignited the war of words over ghostwriting allegations—that’s the same song where Pusha made a snarky remark about Kanye and Drake’s penchant for sneak dissing and frienemy behavior, over a Kanye beat no less.
Things seem good right now, but if anything can shatter this tenuous alliance, it’s a cutting bar from Push.
More eyes will be on Larry Hoover’s case.
One of the overarching motivators for the Drake-Kanye reconciliation has been the case of former Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, who has been incarcerated for decades. West has been advocating publicly for Hoover’s sentence to be commuted since back in 2018 when he met with then-president Donald Trump. He’s formed a close relationship with Larry Hoover, Jr., who appeared on the DONDA track “Jesus Lord” to speak about his father, and also went on the Drink Champs podcast, too.
In an interview with TMZ, Hoover, Jr. implored Drake to mend the feud with Kanye–the ultimate goal being to work towards freeing Hoover’s father, who was sentenced to 150-200 years back in 1973 for murdering a 19-year-old drug dealer.
“This would be big. This is like Michael Jackson and Prince, the one we’d never seen, and it’s gonna be a ripple effect. We need togetherness and peace in this hip-hop community,” Hoover, Jr. said, further explaining that his father is eligible for release under 2018’s First Step Act sentencing reform bill.
Hoover, Jr. also alluded to the possibility of a Free Larry Hoover concert where West and Drake would take the stage together. At the time, it seemed highly unlikely, but with their relationship moving in the right direction it feels increasingly feasible. In his Instagram post with the pair, J. Prince wrote, “Let’s make history December 9 Free Larry Hoover Concert.”
That show would certainly earn plenty of eyes, and present another opportunity to raise awareness of what’s going on with Hoover. But legal action would obviously still be necessary–Hoover was denied a sentencing break in July.
Perhaps we’ll get another peak into that crazy group chat.
The Kanye-Drake beef has been catnip for music Twitter, but with the exception of “Adidon,” nothing took over the internet like the screenshots of a ridiculous group text West started. Essentially a Wes Anderson movie of rap A-listers, the conversation featured Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Pusha, Travis Scott, and Kim Kardashian, for good measure.
The first taste we got was West sharing a photo of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, with the message, “I live for this. I’ve been fucked with by nerd ass jock n***as like you my whole life” (presumably in reference to Drake). West explained a bit more of what went down in the chat during his Drink Champs appearance. Notably, he told the assorted parties “I’m worth more than all of y’all on this text combined.”
Drake and Cudi recently buried the hatchet and worked together on Certified Lover Boy’s “IMY2,” another sign that things are getting better for the members of Kanye’s circle. Perhaps instead of Watch the Throne 2 or Kids See Ghosts 2, we end up with an even higher-wattage Watch the Group Chat record.