Drake Slams Meek Mill Feud Over Stolen Rap Allegations: 'That's Just Not How We Operate'

By
The FADER

Drake is setting the record straight on his war of words with Meek Mill.

"It was weighing heavy on me," the 28-year-old tells The FADER of the feud, which began in July when Meek took to Twitter with claims that Drake "don't write his own raps."


READ: A History of Drake vs. Meek Mill & Nicki Minaj

"This is a discussion about music, and no one's putting forth any music?" Drake recalls in the new interview. "Nobody told you that this was a bad idea, to engage in this and not have something?"

Drake hints that he was more perplexed than angry about the remarks, continuing: "I didn't get it. I didn't get how there was no strategy on the opposite end. I just didn't understand. I didn't understand it because that's just not how we operate."

Drake covers the brand new 100th issue of The FADER magazine -- which promises to be the publication's largest ever -- marking his first cover story in nearly two years. Drake famously tweeted -- and later deleted -- that "the press is evil" after Rolling Stone replaced his cover with an image of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in early 2014 shortly after the actor's death, and published comments about Kanye West that Drake claims were not made during his interview.

The FADER


NEWS: Drake Celebrates His Toronto Restaurant Opening With Serena Williams, Jaden Smith

Returning to the mag that gave him his first-ever cover back in 2009, Drake also clears the air about those ghostwriting allegations.

"I need, sometimes, individuals to spark an idea so that I can take off running. I don't mind that. And those recordings—they are what they are. And you can use your own judgment on what they mean to you," he says. "If I have to be the vessel for this conversation to be brought up—you know, God forbid we start talking about writing and references and who takes what from where -- I'm OK with it being me.

"It's just, music at times can be a collaborative process, you know?" he continues. "Who came up with this, who came up with that—for me, it's like, I know that it takes me to execute every single thing that I've done up until this point. And I'm not ashamed."

Most recently, Drake dropped a surprise full-length mixtape in February 2015 featuring appearances from Lil' Wayne, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Travis Scott. Earlier this week, he released another mixtape -- a joint effort with Future -- titled What a Time to Be Alive.


WATCH: Drake Sits Front Row at Serena Williams' NYFW Show

While Drake opened up about his vulnerability in The FADER interview, ("Not being vulnerable is never gonna be my thing," he says, adding, "I realize that I’m gonna have to be OK with not having that many friends that are peers.") he did not speak up about romance rumors with Serena Williams. Get the scoop on their hot and heavy date night in Cincinnati last month in the video player below.

Drake's full interview is available now on TheFADER.com while the print issue hits stands on Oct. 27.