Drake sure does look happy in this picture above. This went down at Shawty Lo’s birthday last Sunday in Atlanta inside the Velvet Room. I see you Future, I see you CJ, I see you Bodyguard. Thanks ATL Pics.

More pics after the jump!

It was Jay-Z that alerted Timbaland to Drake’s skills, and Drizzy himself said that when he talks with Hov, the Jiggaman drops wisdom on various subjects. Drake and Jay collaborated for a record called “Light Up” off of the 23-year-old newcomer’s Thank Me Later LP.

“It’s just me and Jay both rapping on it for an extended period of time,” Drake told MTV News on the set of his video for “Over.” “It’s real rap. It’s real rap. I do sing on it, but it’s just on the hook — but it’s rap. It’s great. The perspective, the dynamic on the track — it’s me and Jay’s relationship on the song, basically. When you hear it, people will be like, ‘Oh man.’ That’s how we are — just the two. He definitely has guided me a lot, as far as his words and his advice. We have a real funny rapport. I always enjoy my conversations with Jay. It’s good.”

Drake also said the jewels Jay drops on him are almost like the advice Lil Wayne gives, but different.

“Sort of the same thing. [Jay] does it in this way — when Jay says something, it’s different from anyone else. It just means that much more. Jay just has this aura about him. It’s like, ‘That’s why you’re Jay-Z.’ For a guy like me who grew up wanting to be Jay-Z, it’s influential — it’s very, very influential. We have great conversations. Just life. I’m not an AWOL type of character that you have to sit down and instruct. I’m pretty aware of myself and how to go through this whole process. The conversations are just funny and good and settles my mind.”

MTV

Last week on a closed Los Angeles set, Drake filmed the video for “Over,” the first single from his much-anticipated debut album Thank Me Later. The Canadian rapper-singer placed his trust in Anthony Mandler (Jay-Z, Rihanna) to direct a pivotal moment in his fledgling career.

Rap-Up.com dialed up the man calling the shots to pick his brain about the visuals to the song everyone’s talking about, crafting an iconic image for hip-hop’s breakout star, the most intimidating artist he’s worked with, and how the “Run This Town” director has had enough of the Illuminati innuendos.

How did you and Drake connect?
I’m a big fan of Drake and I was really excited when he called me about doing it, and really put a lot into making it special and capturing what I think is an image he hasn’t had yet. Here’s a guy whose lyrical presence does not equal his visual presence yet, by any means. That’s something that he and I spoke a lot about. He felt strongly that nobody had really captured him, and some of the videos that had been done were less iconic than he would like to be represented as.

What’s your thought process when approaching a video?
In all honesty, I don’t really care what other people have done with somebody. If I did, I would put myself in a lane with other people. To my failure or my success, I always want to do something different, so you look at “Run This Town” or “Russian Roulette,” and it’s always about trying to separate and move the needle over. I’m not saying that he made bad videos, I’m just saying that I wanted to do something different with him. I really like to get on the phone, get in person, really kind of talk it through with the artist, and really try to understand where the song came from, what’s their overall story, who are they, what’s the character, and how does that relate.

What struck you about Drake?
This guy’s story is so fascinating. Here you have a half-black, half-Jewish kid. You got a kid that’s on a really accessible TV show, but in two years he’s the hottest thing in the streets. You got a guy that is living all the fantasies out at every level, but he is also a really humble kid and wants to have a family and live a normal life. He’s a kid who’s conflicted, and one thing he said to me in the first conversation that was so poignant, he referenced that line from “Successful”: “I want the money, cars, and the clothes…” and then he says, “I suppose.” It’s like that self doubt. It’s so refreshing that he’s confident, but he’s not arrogant. I think that dimensionality is so important in a genre that is very one note with words like “bravado” and “swagger” and “arrogance” and “promiscuity.” Here’s a guy that’s finally putting a duality to the words and saying, “Yeah, I have all that and I do all that, but I’m also somebody that’s asking, is that what I should be doing with my life?”

Is there added pressure working with an artist with such great expectations?
More than Jay-Z or Rihanna or Beyoncé or Kanye? No. I feel pressure working with artists because I have their careers in my hand. I feel pressure working with artists because they’re entrusting me with something as important as their image, which in a way is almost as important as the music.

Who’s the most intimidating artist to direct?
There’s nobody more intimidating than Jay-Z. There’s nobody who puts you to it more than Jay, as far as accountability and doing what you say, and creating the video that you say you’re gonna create. He’s the master of getting performance out of people on the other side of the camera. He really demands the best and I love that. The last thing I wanna feel is that an artist cares less than I do.

What can you tell us about the concept for Drake’s “Over” video?
I can tell you that it’s not gonna be what you expect. Drake and I were very conscious about trying to push the limits and trying to push things forward. He came to me because he wanted to throw away the conventions of a medium, and take chances and be daring and take certain themes that are relevant to him and try to visualize them in not the obvious way.

Did he have a lot of input?
We spoke at length about his whole story, about the concept of the record, he played me some other tracks, sent me some images, and I went back and did my own images, and started to craft a treatment and voilà. We kinda just met head on. We work really closely and he has Oliver, who’s his creative director. Oliver is a really smart casemaker and he comes in and lends a third opinion. It was a great collaboration between the three of us. There was very little label influence.

Is it true he wears all white in the video?
Not true. Don’t start going at me with symbolism and Illuminati and all types of stupid shit. Can you imagine what they’d say if I started putting people in all white? I’m already the “satanic, devil-worshiping Illuminati, Jewish kid from L.A.” People are so bored.

When can we expect to see the final product?
Probably within two weeks.

Drake said he wasn’t upset when he heard that Sade — an artist he had wanted to collaborate with on his upcoming Thank Me Later debut — said she’s not into guest-starring on anyone’s project.

“I don’t think they have contacted me,” Sade, 51, told Canada’s National Post last month. “I’ve never collaborated because I’ve always avoided working outside my safety zone — I can be exactly who I am and can fail or succeed within the moment. I feel safe working like I do. I wouldn’t want to work in a situation where I am expected to deliver, because I think I wouldn’t deliver.”

Drake said he might not get with her this time, but maybe on a future album.

“That’s great. Her brand is always protected. That’s why,” Drake said of her comments on the set of his “Over” video last week in California. “Other people’s visuals, other people’s songs, stepping outside your zone can jeopardize your brand. It can bring you down as opposed to bring you up. I personally feel we could have done something amazing. But I don’t think she really knows who I am, really, my genre of music. I put it out there. It was more of a hopeful thing. It was a very early stage where I was at when I said that I was hoping. One day. Maybe after this album comes out.

“I’m very influenced by her,” he added. “She does something that I do. She doesn’t do too much with harmonies, and she keeps her vocals very clean. Single vocals. Haunting melodies. I’m influenced by her a lot. One day.”

This track just might be a reference track for another male artist, but it’s still something to help you sleep at night if you’ve been itching to hear Drake sing to you.

Drake – Fall For Your Type

Props to NMC

The pledge is on wax and MP3: On his new single “Over,” Drake raps, “Making sure the Young Money ship is never sinking.” Even though the head of his label, Lil Wayne, is in jail, Drake insisted there’s no way he’ll let the camp slip from its top spot.

“I’m gonna do everything I told him I would do, what I said in the song: keep us afloat till he gets back,” Drake said on the set of his “Over” video. “You won’t even notice he’s gone. Promise.”

Last week, Wayne was sentenced to a year in jail for a 2007 gun-possession charge, but Drake knows his leader will be OK.

“Lil Wayne is a legend,” Drake said. “I could never classify Wayne as victim. He’s too strong to me. Wayne is who he wants to be. People don’t understand. It’s really not an act. Lil Wayne is a character you’ll rarely run across, probably for the existence of human beings. He is that guy. He is Lil Wayne for a reason. He’s a rock star, a visionary, a workaholic. He doesn’t function like anybody I know. He’s a rare breed.

“I don’t think fame really has anything to do with his situation,” Drizzy continued. “We take precautions. All of us do. To be in the public eye and to be envied and have people who hate you and never have met you or have people who love you and tattoo your face on their body and never have met you, it’s an odd feeling for anybody. It’s a rush [for me]. I love it. It gets weird sometimes. So it’s just personal choices we all make. I never felt that threatened. I’m not sure what’s going through his head at the time. But Wayne has a reason for everything, always. I trust in Wayne. I believe in Wayne. He’s gonna be all right.”

MTV

“I could never classify Wayne as victim. He’s too strong to me. Wayne is who he wants to be. People don’t understand. It’s really not an act. Lil Wayne is a character you’ll rarely run across, probably for the existence of human beings. He is that guy. He is Lil Wayne for a reason. He’s a rock star, a visionary, a workaholic. He doesn’t function like anybody I know. He’s a rare breed.”

-Hip-hop phenom Drake, talking to MTV News’ Shaheem Reid about his mentor and label boss Lil Wayne, who just began a jail sentence stemming from a 2007 gun-possession charge. On the set of the video shoot for “Over,” a track from Drake’s forthcoming and hotly-anticipated album So Far Gone, Drake talked extensively about Weezy’s current predicament, and he insisted that fame had nothing to do with his situation. “We take precautions. All of us do. To be in the public eye and to be envied and have people who hate you and never have met you or have people who love you and tattoo your face on their body and never have met you, it’s an odd feeling for anybody,” he said.”

Still, Wayne’s troubles haven’t dissuaded Drake from getting deep into the rap game. In fact, he seems pretty empowered. “It’s a rush [for me]. I love it,” he told Reid. “It gets weird sometimes. So it’s just personal choices we all make. I never felt that threatened. I’m not sure what’s going through his head at the time. But Wayne has a reason for everything, always. I trust in Wayne. I believe in Wayne. He’s gonna be all right.”

MTV

Nicki Minaj and Drake speak on performing with Young Jeezy + Lil Wayne at Jay-Z’s Madison Square Garden show in New York City shortly after Lil Wayne’s sentence was delayed, once again.

Here’s Drake spotted leaving dinner with Anthony Madler (director of the “Over” music video) at the Katsuya restaurant on Monday night in Los Angeles, California.

ConcreteLoop

It’s always amazing to find these creative Drake fans (that’s why we showcase them). Check out Jack Labadie speak on the Drake painting, Drake’s reaction when he saw it, why he chose that specific picture and etc.

Click here to see a jpeg version of the painting just in case you missed it. Good job once again Jack!