Jan 23, 2015 Long read but interesting http://www.djbooth.net/index/mobile/feature/what-if-drake-didnt-sign-young-money (link if you wanna read the whole thing) Behind every great rapper, there’s a great co-sign. Sharing the wealth leads to a chain reaction of new faces; stamps of approval can generate a small internet buzz or overnight prominence. A co-sign can also extend an established artist's time in the limelight, Puffy is notorious for keeping new blood around, extending his personal relevance. Label deals, features, remixes, even a Soundcloud repost can be career changing, and Drake’s co-sign is Wizardr. He has the ability to turn practically unknown up-comers into widely popular shooting stars: Makoneen, Migos, The Weeknd, PND and Kendrick’s feature on Take Care are great examples of seeing potential and giving it a grand platform. And Drizzy's co-sign prominence makes sense. He was once an ignored and overlooked kid from Toronto known for a role on a teen show. Now, he’s hovering over his contemporaries, thanks in part to a co-sign. But is his success a product of destiny, or the domino effect of one man’s foresight? In 2008, there wasn’t a rapper with more promise than Lil Wayne. "Lollipop" took him from underground undertaker to kicking down the door to mainstream’s promise land. Tha Carter III sold a million copies in one week, even if Cash Money bought 300K copies, and the feat polarized his status as hip-hop’s Martian mastermind. 2008 is also the year he met Drake and the two released "Ransom." Despite making music with 9th Wonder, Rich Boy, Little Brother, Trey Songz and Malice, Wayne’s feature gave Drake his real start. Behind the scenes, Cortez Bryant and Hip Hop Since 1978 started to manage Drake. They saw something in his lyricism, but he needed a branding makeover. TheComeback Season rapper was thrown on Wayne’s I Am Music Tour as an opening act. The idea was to create a grassroots movement, Wayne’s enormous following would allow Drake to win-over thousands. That wasn’t the only change as Drake’s engineer Noah “40” Shebib was promoted to producer. New production, new management, and a world-wide tour, nothing was the same. "b---- Is Crazy," track 12 on Comeback Season, is the first time Drake sung on record. Despite joking about wanting to be a R&B singer, he didn’t begin to really combine singing and rapping until So Far Gone, possibly because of the suggestions from his new management team. History is engraved with what transpired once So Far Gone dropped – Drake’s domination, checkmate, a flawless victory. After an intense bidding war, he signed a lucrative deal with Young Money/Cash Money/Universal - a $2 million advance and a seemingly artist-friendly deal. He becameYoung Money’s songbird and an industry-changer. Drake changed the idea of what was accepted in hip-hop: a free mixtape with singles on the radio, a rapper wearing his heart on his cuff links, the prototype of a future unseen. He did it all with Wayne in his corner though, so as Lil Wayne threatens to leave Young Moneyand the empire appears to be collapsing, it's the perfect time to revisit YMCMB's legacy and ask some "what if" questions. Most significantly, what happens if we go back to 2008 and Drake never meets Lil Wayne, doesn’t hire Cortez Bryant and Hip Hop Since 1978 and never signs to Young Money? Would Drake be the same artist? Would hip-hop be the same? What's the butterfly effect of Drizzy on another label?
