Drake Talks Never Experiencing Love Before, Haters & Chris Brown for GQ

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Young Money rapper Drake is without a doubt one of the most successful rappers on the scene as of now, but he’s also one of the most criticized rap artists out. And that’s because Drake doesn’t have much street cred, which of course is looked down upon in circles of most Hip hop heads, and even his hit song “Started from the Bottom” hasn’t changed things and how most people perceive him. But in a recent interview with GQ for the July issue, Drake opens up about his haters, his feud with Chris Brown, not sleeping with women he doesn’t know while making an album, and even his thoughts on “real love.”

On dealing with his haters, Drake says:

“You notice they don’t criticize the music itself, though…I’m okay with that.”

Drake reveals he tries not to sleep with women he doesn’t know very well while he’s in the process of making a new album:

“You know the way fighters don’t f*ck before the fight? Sometimes I feel like I’m so focused on training my body and getting my mind right to create this album that s*x isn’t one of my main priorities. If someone is around that I know and trust, I’m down. But I’m not going to end up with some stranger at this party.”

On the feud with Chris Brown:

“I hear he has everything he could want now. I don’t want my name to be synonymous with that guy’s name. I really don’t. I wish we could sit down just like you and me are right now, and talk it out man-to-man. But that’s not going to happen. I’m not confrontational, but if someone challenges, I’m not going to back down. If I think about it too much, I feel it wrapping around my foot, like I get a feeling it could end really badly…Like, it gets really dark.”

The rapper also admits he’s never been in love before:

“[Will Smith said] It’s not about wanting anymore, you need that person. Hearing that, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that way…I’ve made a lot of music about love being the only thing I’m missing. I think this is the first album I’ve made saying, ‘I’m okay, I’m enjoying it right now.’ Maybe this is my time to grind it out, make a run for it, and add some memories with my boys.”

On his smash hit, “Started From The Bottom,” he says:

“I think a lot of people wish their favorite rapper wrote it—as if a song like that should be gangster—but I was the one who wrote it, and everyone has their bottom.

“As for my whole story, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve told bits and pieces of it—and I’ll tell more. Maybe because I had friends who grew up in the hood, I could have acted like I had, too, and perpetrated a different lifestyle, and it would be eating away at me because it wouldn’t be the truth. i’m actually here in front of you living the truth. I wake up in the morning and my heart is light, man. It’s not heavy. I don’t have skeletons in the closet on their way out. This is my real age, my real name, my real past, and I’m good with that.”

On his upcoming album, “Nothing Was The Same”:

“This is my f*cking moment to say if I wanted to rap all the time, really rap, I would, but I also love to make music. I’ll do this for you right now. But it’s for me, too. It’s my story…I’m trying to get back to that kid in the basement. To say what he has to say. And I’m trying to make it last.”

Check out the cover below: