The rapper known as Drake is so hotly tipped that his new album is tearing up the charts – without his even having released it. An unauthorised record featuring the Lil Wayne protege spent a week on iTunes before receiving a cease and desist letter from Drake's management. Those seven days were enough to send The Girls Love Drake to the top of the Billboard Heatseekers list – and make it the 101st most popular album in the entire United States.
Drake was already the subject of a major-label bidding war and the illegal mixtape has added to the hype. In just months, the Toronto rapper has gone from minor Canadian television personality to Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z and Mary J Blige collaborator.
"Buzz so big, I can probably sell a blank disc," Drake raps on Best I Ever Had – and so far it seems true. The Girls Love Drake borrowed tracks from Drake's official, grey-market mixtapes, collecting them in the form of an LP. The album was then "released" by Canadian Money Entertainment, an independent label who have no relation to Drake or his management.
According to Peter Greenwood, the founder of Canadian Money Entertainment, the mixtape was released with the best of intentions. "Breaking [Drake] in the States along with other Toronto artists has always been our goal," he told Billboard. "Drake is our hometown hero."
Drake's representatives, however, don't feel the same way. Though artists may informally release mixtapes – songs still in development or with uncleared samples – they must be careful not to make them widely available. By listing The Girls Love Drake on iTunes, Canadian Money Entertainment may have opened Drake up to lawsuits from David Banner, Goapele and other artists sampled on the tracks.
Drake's manager, Al Branch, announced plans to sue the offending label. "This is a straight bootleg," he said, "a scandal."
But good publicity too.
