Branch said he tried to discourage its airplay: "I said, 'Give me time. This is good for a mix-tape. I'll give you another record.' But he was like, 'I can't wait. This record's hot.' "
Now Hot 97 has played a "clean" version of "Best I Ever Had" more than 1,300 times and other stations across the country followed suit. Nonetheless, with Drake still shopping for a record deal, the song wasn't on sale anywhere until he independently released it on iTunes in mid-June. The Boi1da-produced tune hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts and peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 2 inches; 99 words Type of Material: Correction
Toronto rapper: An article about Toronto rapper Drake in Sunday's Arts & Books section said the heads of management firm Hip Hop Since 1978 -- Gee Robertson, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua and Al Branch -- are also credited with raising the stature of artists Jill Scott and the Roots. Hip Hop Since 1978 does not work with those two artists. It was another individual, Shawn Gee, who had a hand in boosting the careers of all three; Robertson is not a part of Hip Hop Since 1978, but he cooperates with the firm as one of Drake's business managers.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, July 26, 2009 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part D Page 2 Calendar Desk 2 inches; 92 words Type of Material: Correction
Drake: An article last Sunday about Toronto rapper Drake said the heads of management firm Hip Hop Since 1978, Gee Robertson, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua and Al Branch, are also credited with raising the stature of artists Jill Scott and the Roots. Hip Hop Since 1978 does not work with those two artists. It was another individual, Shawn Gee, who had a hand in boosting the careers of all three; Gee is not a part of Hip Hop Since 1978, but he cooperates with the firm as one of Drake's business managers.
With empirical evidence of Drake's mass appeal, his managers began tough negotiations with executives from Universal Motown, Warner Music Group and Atlantic Records in what Billboard magazine described as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever."
"They saw the radio spins, that we were selling 300,000 iTunes singles in two weeks after we had the record out there for free for four or five months," Bryant said. "That gives them numbers."
In the end, Drake signed a distribution deal with Universal because the label puts out his mentor Lil Wayne's Young Money imprint. (Universal declined to comment on the terms of the deal. Drake said in an interview that although his deal is unusually profitable, he does not give Bryant or the executives at Hip Hop Since 1978 a bigger cut of his earnings than other artists do. "I give them what most managers get," he said.)
Branch coined a new term for Drake and Lil Wayne's synergistic working relationship: "cooperitation."
"It's when competition cooperates together," he said. "Wayne is cooperating with Drake to achieve a common goal, to help each other out. The competition aspect is each rapper wants to be the best rapper that ever lived. But Wayne realized that in order to be great, you also have to collaborate with the best."
In the four months since being anointed hip-hop's next big thing, Drake has notched an impressive number of top-tier urban music collaborations, recording with Jay-Z, Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell Williams and Rihanna. He's working on his debut album, "Thank Me Later," with Justin Timberlake. And July 27, he embarks on a 22-city "Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Music Festival" tour with Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy (it reaches Los Angeles on Aug. 13).
Elliott Wilson, founder and chief executive of the respected urban music website RapRadar.com, spoke in complimentary terms of Drake's live-performance ability, likened the fan frenzy on his YouTube videos to "Beatlemania" and compared the rapper's ear for melodies to that of West. Wilson also pointed out that the public seems hungry for "a new rap star."
"He's shown the potential to make hit records," he said. " 'So Far Gone' is one of the few quality releases this year. It's outlasted a lot of studio releases in the last few months. The kids today want to believe in something. It seems like they want to believe in Drake."
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chris.lee@latimes.com
