The Power Of The Drake Co-Sign

Aubrey 'Drake' Graham, aka Drizzy Drake is a Canadian rap superstar. He's sold countless records and lives on the Billboard charts. But there's one thing about Drake that separates him from others, and that seemingly is his ability to bestow upon someone the prized commodity known as 'BUZZ'.

Drake trying to decide which artiste he should co-sign next.

BUZZ is that one thing every underground artiste desires to make the jump from unknown to mainstream. And there is no other artiste in recent time with the ability to bestow upon others, significant buzz quite like Drake. Let's look at his first co-sign success, The Weeknd.

The Weeknd ( Real name Abel Tesfaye)



Though initially unknown, having quietly released songs like 'What You Need' and 'Loft Music' to YouTube, The Weeknd's profile rapidly rose via coverage on Drake's OVO Blog. Fast forward four years later and The Weeknd now has his own distribution deal with Republic, an estimated personal wealth of five million dollars and a loyal fan base.



Now I'm not saying The Weeknd would not have been successful without Drake, as his talent would ultimately had seen him rise to the top regardless of a co-sign, but in today's industry, a co-sign from an artiste of Drake's magnitude is an incredible leg up. Future co-signs for 'Migos' (Versace) and  more recently for Dej Loaf (Try Me) all further prove my point. However only recently has the power of the Drake co-sign been cemented into LEGENDARY status. Ladies and gentleman I give you 'ILOVEMAKONNEN

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Makonnen Sheran is a 25 year old artiste, who In July of 2014 self released his debut EP 'ILOVEMAKONNEN'. In late August 2014, not only did Drake like one of Makonnen's songs in 'Tuesday', he liked it so much that he asked it's producer Sonny Digital if he could do a remix to it, which he quickly recorded and released. Ultimately Makonnen would be signed to his label OVO Sound, however what makes this particular co-sign legendary is the fact that within a space of 6 months 'ILOVEMAKONNEN' went from underground artiste to GRAMMY NOMINATED artiste, with 'Tuesday ft Drake' receiving a nomination in the best rap/sung category. All hail Drake, the KING OF CO-SIGN.