BNW LIVE

Drake Covers GQ, Talks Chris Brown Feud, Haters & His Upcoming Album

Drake is GQ magazine’s July 2013 cover boy and dished about his upcoming album Nothing Was The Same, his ongoing feud with Chris Brown, his father and some great advice he received from Will Smith.

The Young Money rapper took GQ inside his L.A. mansion which was worth $27million back in 2009 (Drizzy only paid measly 7.7 million for it last year).

GQ wisely sent in a male reporter this time – perhaps they didn’t want a repeat of what happened during Drake’s last GQ interview with a female writer!

Here’s how they described Drake’s mansion:

Drake’s home is its own fantasia, a single-level ranch that sprawls in various wings over 7,500 square feet, from the game room to the gym to Drake’s master bedroom with Jacuzzi. The pool is like a scene out of Waterworld, with a bar inside a grotto, waterfalls, and a slide that drops thirty feet through the rock. Someone leaps from the top of the waterfall into the pool while another holds on to the cliff and does pull-ups. Hung everywhere, the indoor-outdoor flat-screen TVs shine like mirrors. On the property are stables, a mechanical bull, and a movie theater. There’s an air-conditioned doghouse and a wine cellar. Drake bought the place for $7.7 million from a restaurant-chain mogul who threw in all the furniture, too. When the front gate opens to allow passage, a woman’s voice coos, “Access granted.” Drake’s boys call it Disneyland.

And of course there are lots of women and his crew but Drake says, “This ain’t every day. I really don’t live some crazy rapper life. Today I want my boys to have their fun.”

Another noteworthy moment from the interview is the hilarious awkward encounter between Drake and a waitress a Mexican restaurant where part of the interview took place:

At the Mexican place, we sit at a table on the outdoor patio, listening to a man with an acoustic guitar really beat up some easy-listening tunes. It’s not Drake’s first time here. In fact our waitress acts a bit chilly at first, taking Drake’s order for a strawberry margarita, and when she leaves, he says, “Oh man, I kinda dated her cousin, and I think she might be mad at me.”

Ha!

One of the main topics of the interview was Drake’s feud with Chris Brown and here’s what Drizzy had to say:

“I hear he has everything he could want now. I don’t want my name to be synonymous with that guy’s name. I really don’t. I wish we could sit down, just like you and me are right now, and talk it out man-to-man. But that’s not going to happen. I’m not confrontational, but if someone challenges, I’m not going to back down. It’s embarrassing, the amount of media coverage. Two rappers fighting over the woman. He’s not even a rapper, but still, it’s the last way you want your name out there. It distracts from the music. But he’s made me the enemy, and that’s the way it’s gonna stay, I guess. If I think about it too much, I feel it wrapping around my foot, like I get a feeling it could end really badly. Like, it gets really dark.”

Now while the writer wasn’t sure about that last bit, we think Drake may be concerned for Rihanna’s safety, although we may be totally wrong here. But overall it’s a whole lot better than the last time he addressed the feud and made this infamous statement about Chris:

“His insecurities are the fact that I make better music than him, that I’m more popping than him and that at one point in life the woman that he loves fell into my lap – I did what a real nigga would do and treated her with respect so she’s not out there talking down on me.”

Give ‘em that pout Drake!

See what else Drizzy had to say in the excerpts below.

On his detractors like Common, Lil Kim, DMX and Chris: “You notice they don’t criticize the music itself, though. I’m okay with that.”

On keeping his focus on his upcoming album: You know the way fighters don’t fuck before the fight? Sometimes I feel like I’m so focused on training my body and getting my mind right to create this album that sex isn’t one of my main priorities. If someone is around that I know and trust, I’m down. But I’m not going to end up with some stranger at this party.”

On receiving advice from Will Smith: “I had lunch the other day with someone I extremely look up to. Okay—I had lunch with Will Smith, and listening to him talk, it made me think I don’t know what love is. He said something profound. He said love is when you become one and you need that person. It’s not about wanting anymore, you need that person. Hearing that, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that way. I’ve held women in very high regard almost to the point where I felt like I needed them for a very long time, but I don’t know if I comprehend it yet, and I’m okay with that.

On taking a break from music: “By no means will I take a water break,” he tells me. “I feel guilty on vacation. I feel guilty right now, talking to you, guilty that I’m not working.”

On working on his relationship with his dad who left when he was a kid: “It’s an emotional process. My father is an incredible man—charming, talented, and stylish—and I’m sort of living the dream he had for himself. But his actions served as that reverse role model for me. There are a lot of things that I don’t ever want to do. I don’t want to miss years of my child’s life. I don’t want to put a woman on a roller-coaster ride.”