Early on in 2014, writer John Seabrook sat down for an interview with Drake. It was part of research for his book The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory, which is “the story of the massive cultural upheaval that produced these new, super-strength hits… The Song Machine explores what the new hits may be doing to our brains and listening habits.”
In 2014, Drake was riding on the waves of Nothing Was The Same, but hadn’t yet reached the heights of fame he achieved in 2015 with If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What a Time to Be Alive. Seabrook must be good at his job, because he discovered before the meeting he discovered that Champagne Papi had attended a songwriter camp at Death Row Records during its twilight years as a label.
While the chronology of events makes it impossible for Drake to have come into contact with any of the OGs like Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur, he had this to say about Suge’s cash cow camp:
“It was some of the most strenuous militant shit I’ve ever done. But no useable songs came out of it. When I think of how he worked us, it’s no wonder he didn’t get anything out of it. It was just writers in a room churning out product all day long.”
Sounds like how Suge treated all of his talent.
