If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Future has teamed up with Drake ever since 2011, and their most recent tracks have topped the charts and moved a whole lot of streams. So, it makes all the sense in the world that Future, 38, would have Drake, 35, on his new album, I Never Liked You. Drake appears on two tracks, “I’m On One” and “Wait For U.” Drake gives some notable shoutouts in “I”m On One” that are specifically geared to all the soccer fans out there.
Drake raps about Cristiano Ronaldo first, and the lyrics are a little spicy. “Take her to see Cristiano, f**k her in that Benz Viano Champions League, shit, there’ll be a driver for you on arrival.” Just a few tracks later, Drake brings up Lionel Messi. “I’m just all about my goals like I’m Messi,” Drake raps. This isn’t the first time Drake has rapped about Cristiano. He notably brought up the soccer icon in his 2018 song “Blue Tint.”
A quick scan of Future’s discography, and Drake’s name pops up more than a handful of times. From their 2011 collab “Tony Montana” to “Where Ya At,” “Jumpman,” and “Used to This,” Drake and Future have not been afraid to team up on a track (or in the case of 2015’s What A Time To Be Alive, on a collaborative mixtape.)2020’s “Life Is Good” might be the most lucrative result of their work, with the song certified Diamond – that’s 10x Platinum – by the RIAA. The following year, Drake and Future topped the charts, along with Young Thug, with “Way 2 Sexy,” a song from Drizzy’s Certified Lover Boy.
The partnership is based on results — and respect. “[Future’s] an absolutely relentless, spontaneous workhorse,” Drake said in GQ’s May 2022 feature, the one that dubbed Future “the best rapper alive.” While Drake didn’t contest it, he did point out the differences between him and the “Mask Off” rapper, and why their collaborations are so successful. “And me, I’m a calculated, purpose-driven, militant individual. You take his free-flowing genius and you mix it with my level of understanding and planning and—records, albums, singles—we can pretty much create anything together.”
“We made the most out of it,” Future told GQ when speaking about how lucky he was to work with Drake in the early steps of his career. “You’re in a place where your self-esteem and ego allow a person to be in your space. And not be afraid to be like: I want to align and build with this…. You’re never weak when you understand another man’s strengths. I’m never weak now. I know what I need to be unstoppable. I know what I need to feel like, Okay, I’m never lacking, or, I’m never down.”