What Happened To ILoveMakonnen?

Let’s be honest: Tuesdays haven’t been the same since 2014. A single song flipped an ordinary weekday into a megahit that hasn't left playlists over a decade later. Yet, iLoveMakonnen, the melodic voice behind the classic track, has a story that stretches far beyond a viral anthem as one of rejection and reinvention in an industry that lifts artists quickly and leaves them just as fast.

Before his name shined on the charts, Atlanta native Makonnen Sheran was online like the rest of us. However, he was documenting underground scenes and interviewing budding artists online. On Myspace, he released music and connected with artists before they were household names—even crossing paths with Adele in those early days. He linked with Metro Boomin and Sonny Digital long before they became superproducers, recording songs that captured the curiosity of the ATL's bubbling local scene. Soon after he recorded “Tuesday,” celebrities caught wind of it, and then Drake stepped in with a remix that turned it into a global hit. Collaborations unfolded with some of Rap's biggest names. An OVO Sound deal quickly followed, Grammy nomination in tow, and for a moment, it looked like Makonnen was unstoppable.

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However, momentum shifted. Old tweets resurfaced making fun of Drake, his relationship with Drizzy soured, and suddenly, the industry doors that had flung open were slammed shut. Makonnen has said bluntly that he was blackballed, abandoned by connections he thought were solid.

More recently, a TikTok clip of him working in a restaurant thrust his name back into the discourse. Some mocked "Chef Makonnen" for “falling off.” Others defended him, pointing out the hypocrisy of tearing down a man for earning a living. Even the Joe Budden Podcast chimed in on the conversation, prompting the rapper-singer to clap back. Still, a question lingered: What happened to iLoveMakonnen?

Over the course of this week, we’ll share the answer in his own words. The conversation moves beyond the whirlwind of “Tuesday” into the reality of his journey, including losing friends like Lil Peep and JuiceWRLD and rejecting the culture of drug glorification. He also shares his thoughts on queer artists rising in Hip Hop, developing his Makoregon503 visual art project, rebuilding in Portland after his studio burned down, and refusing to stop creating when the industry turned its back, even when he helped shape the scene.

And, yes, he talks all about his time with Drake and OVO Sound, where he believes personal issues blocked business, as well as retiring-non-retiring from the industry with new music. Let's jump right into it.

ILoveMakonnen: Man, I know it's been 11 years since "Tuesday." I have been dealing and living with all of the aftermath of the "club going up on a Tuesday" *laughs*. I've gotten into the industry, gotten out, went through a whirlwind. I was somebody who was at home, too. I'm from the screen as well, where I'm typing in [online], I'm nosy, too. I'm on Twitter.

HNHH: You were a blogger!

ILoveMakonnen: Yeah! I'm interested in knowing what's going on to with the artists behind the arts and all that. And then, when I got in there on the other side, where now people are interviewing me and asking me everything about myself, I started to see that my honest-type-of-self wasn't so accepted because a lot of people have these images that they like to upkeep for the media and whatever else.

All I know is, I'm just myself. I can't—I feel like I can only represent myself right? Then, when it starts to come where I have to represent certain companies and certain places, it's like, okay. Now, I feel like I have to start not being me, right? That's not me. So, I feel like it's best for me to just be at a place where I can just be myself that doesn't affect anybody else.

HNHH: There have also been two times when you retired. Once as recent as last year and then previously—

ILoveMakonnen: —in May 2016. Yes. I remember because I was like, "I'm fed up."

HNHH: But you've been steadly releasing music over the years. So, are you done for good or...?

ILoveMakonnen: So, I got off of Warner Bros. I got off of OVO, like in 2016. Yeah. I mean, I came out as gay in 2017, that was with Warner Bros. And then we kind of had a few years of just silence. I got off of there in 2021 and then I was in Portland, I live in Oregon. I want to kind of just make some music, express myself again, do some things. So, I started doing projects like that, and just started putting out a whole bunch of music. After a while, it's like, okay, don't nobody care about this. Like, I'm doing it. I f*ck with it, I think the song is great. I think it's as much as a hit as these other ones I put into, if not, I'm putting more time into it, revising it, making a little better.

The more I'm seeing the culture carriers, the people who saying, we break a new song and music, they don't give a damn about my artistic efforts. Obviously, all they picking up on is drama, right?

So—last time I felt like I had a lot of support in the news, it was like they saw me with NBA YoungBoy (in 2022), right? So, YoungBoy was on house arrest and stuff at the time, and he would call me, like, "Bro, can you come out here? Talk with me, hang with me for a little bit. I've always been a big fan, I'm going through some sh*t." Boom. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna come out there, see you. Come out there, see each other and all that, we f*cking with each other. He like, oh, you a legend, giving me my flowers, just showing mad love.

Then, it kind of comes out online that we hanging out. Then I've got all the Post Malone, Swae Lee, Metro Boomin responding to me now, hitting me up, like, oh bro, homie, fam, let's do whoop-whoop-whoop. But it's also...how is it like that when I knew y'all before?

HNHH: Yeah, everyone you named, you knew them when they weren't anything in the industry quite yet.

ILoveMakonnen: Type sh*t! We all were nothing at the time. I mean, we was all very local. We all know each other. And then it's like, okay, I'm working with YoungBoy. He way younger than us, you know. He telling me how much I inspired him, how much our music put a positive influence to make him want to go pro. He's a big star. Now, he dealing with his thing in the industry. So, I'm over there as a little seasoned vet now. I done dealt with a whole bunch in the industry.

[Lil] Peep done died. I've had JuiceWRLD die. Younger artists that I influenced and was able to meet, seeing them pass on, and then dealing with a lot of this business and then emotions and the culture and how to respond with everything. So, I was like, just trying to be there as, like a mentor, somebody who's like, I'm not trying to use you for your your views, YoungBoy. I'm not trying to get on here and do all the clout and all that. You know, I'm not here for that.

HNHH: I was just about to ask you about calling out your peers online like Swae, Post, and Metro, like, "Where did y'all go?"

ILoveMakonnen: Type sh*t, like, where is y'all at? Like, what's the tea on this? Because how was it all of a sudden—this ain't even our best song ever together. This is some sh*t we going, he going through. Let's make some sh*t. I got some sh*t. Let's do some sh*t. And it's up. But now it's like, how are y'all hitting me up when you been known me? Yeah, that's where it hurts at. It's like, bro, what is that?

And then, as we do that, then everybody from the industry start hitting me, like, let's do some sh*t. I'm f*cking with you. It's like, oh, you f*cking with me? Y'all ain't f*cking with me. Y'all been up here. I've been around. I've been very accessible, you know? I really ain't been offline to where they don't know where iLoveMakonnen went. It's still the same people liking my sh*t that knew me before the "Tuesday" remix, you know. So, after just hanging with YoungBoy, he was just telling me who I am, I'm like, yeah, I feel that. I do feel that.

HNHH: You dropped quite a bit of music this year and last year. Recently you've had "Worth More Than Drugs," "Really Super Pretty," and "Like WTF."

ILoveMakonnen: Yeah, 2024 I did two projects, right? My thing was, nobody picked up on the projects. Everybody who's a music reviewer, listener, I didn't hear them say anything about it. I'm like, okay, here goes my independent efforts. I'm important, but here go the music. I thought this the sh*t that we cared about. So, here you go, right? And it's like, okay, nobody cares about that. Alright, bet. Well, I did everything, sh*t. I say I retired, post it on my Instagram, and then all the news places come back. And I'm like, wait, so y'all see my sh*t, y'all see my sh*t on Instagram, right? Because it's like, oh, even before the YoungBoy sh*t, I'm posting music, then I post I'm retiring, but everybody picks up on the drama. He said this, he said that.

HNHH: Well, OVO and Drake seem to have haunted you, because it's more than just a moment. It was literally your life and career. What do you think made your relationship with him stand out at the time, when things started to unravel? I read you guys are good now.

ILoveMakonnen: I was the first person who was like, I'm off the Drake sh*t. No shade. I'm not doggin' a n*gga out. I f*ck with the n*gga, thank you for jumping on my record and all that, but I'm just gonna have to move my way and do my thing. It was never, oh, I'm going to straight with beef on OVO. I made a few jokes. I make a joke about everybody. Make joke about myself. Been through so much tragedies, you have to make some jokes, right?

But I don't have no ill will, no shade or hate towards Drake, but it's just like, Drake and them don't ever mention me. Drake don't ever reach out to me. Drake acts like the whole OVO situation, they act like that "Tuesday" sh*t just didn't happen. I'm like, how? Why are y'all acting like this? Y'all was really just all on my bumper, like we all Tuesday'd out. I'm banging y'all sh*t. I'm repping y'all sh*t. I don't even know y'all like that, but I know Drake, and I f*ck with you for giving me the opportunity, and I'm here and I'm doing my thing.

HNHH: Now, there was the controversy with the old tweets that resurfaced that caused a scene. It's surprising they didn't find those before you signed with OVO.

ILoveMakonnen: Yeah. My whole thing, too, was like, Drake is a massive artist. He's been a massive artist. I felt like, if anybody who could take criticism and know about the public and the crowd just talking sh*t about you, not even knowing you, it would be you. I was trying to explain that this was before I even know who you are. I'm a human living in my conditions, going through my challenges that I'm going through. You're a famous name up here that me and everybody in my neighborhood talks about, so we can try to relate to something and laugh about it, because you're doing better than us. We don't really know you, you know. I don't know, because we really fans of your music, but it seems to really hurt them.

And now it's like, oh, you really shaded me. You really not talking to me. You really not f*ckin' with me. Now I'm feeling, when I try to see him out at an A$AP Rocky concert. "Yo, Drake, what's up," backstage. He looks at me and it's just like, ugh. Oh! It's like that? What's the tea? What's the beef? Somebody tell me what's going on. It's just a whole bunch of secretive—every time I see OVO it's weird vibes and they treat me like, "Come on, y'all, we don't talk to him, we don't communicate." And I'm like, I don't know what the beef is.

HNHH: Do you have any dream collaborations these days?

ILoveMakonnen: You know, in a dream world, I'd love to collaborate with Drake again. I feel like musically, we had great moments.

HNHH: Really?

ILoveMakonnen: Absolutely. Drake isn't a bad artist.

HNHH: One thing I can say is, it surely isn't normal that you were able to be released from your labels without a legal battle like other artists face.

ILoveMakonnon: Obviously...you know...I wasn't worth nothing.

HNHH: Don't you do that!

ILoveMakonnen: *Laughs* Nah, I'm just so thankful to be released. Honestly, I don't even care. It's like, whatever. I'm happy with it, for real.

Read through the entirety of our interview with iLoveMakonnen:
ILoveMakonnen Opens Up About Drake, OVO, Regrets, & Kendrick Lamar
Why ILoveMakonnen Won’t Glorify Drugs After Losing Lil Peep & Juice WRLD
ILoveMakonnen Addresses Lil Nas X Comparisons, Queer Visibility, & Hip Hop Politics