Complex Mag sat down with Drake to talk about his hot start, Kanye, his new album, Weezy and more…

As smooth as your entry to the rap world was, you only stumbled when people questioned your choices, like the video for “Best I Ever Had.”

Drake: You can do something you believe in and people will still say, “This shit is terrible!” But I still believe in Kanye’s vision. Maybe we didn’t do a great job with getting the point across—it was supposed to be a humorous video. When I read the comments, I was like, Man, I guess no one wants to laugh anymore. Everybody wants the fairy tale, you know?

Around the time that Kanye directed “Best I Ever Had,” it seemed like there was strife between your camp and Cudi’s camp because Kanye was so enamored of you while Cudi’s project was being worked on.

Drake: I wasn’t aware of that. Even so, I could understand. If Wayne were to be enamored—which is a great word—of another young artist, I would be like, “Damn, I’m here too!” But at the same time, it happens in more than one situation. It happens with ‘Ye, and I have a great relationship with Jay, and Jay’s got Wale and J. Cole, who’s one of my favorite dudes rapping right now. I’ve happened to have had more success. I made the most money, I have number-one records, those guys don’t have that shit. And it’s just facts, it’s not even my feelings or that I feel I’m more talented. That’s what the game is about, making great music that earns profit. When it comes to my relationship with the new dudes, I’m just excited for them. I get to sit back in a cool position and be like, “Yo, I’m excited to see you do it now because I know what it’s like, it’s gonna be so much fun for you…”

You and Wayne share an ability to cross over to diverse groups. What do you think it is that attracts polar-opposite groups to enjoy your music? Is it the Young Money affiliation alone?

Drake: I’m not talking about a thousand rounds in a chopper or payin’ 24, 23. It’s just delivery. One of my favorite rappers in the world, Jeezy, is somebody who loves my music. For him to not only co-sign what I’m doing but also to want to make music with me is crazy. Wayne had this conversation with me like, “You’re in a position where you could be a star. Not just a rapper star. A true star.” Me being biracial, me being from Canada but having success in the States, I have all these moments in my life where I’m jumping roof to roof. Black to white. Singing and rapping. My mom’s friends listen to my music and don’t feel weird about it. They feel weird listening to Wayne.

Read more @ Complex.

The new Source issue hits newsstands on January 20th.

Game covers Smooth’s “Caliente” issue… with Tammy Torres.

“…the Internet will make you think you’re like, famous when you’re really not—’cause people see your picture or whatever, on the blogs.”

(spotted at RR)

Via XXL:

“After years bubbling beneath the surface, Gucci was having the best year ever, racking up hit after hit and high profile co-signs, but that all came to a halt when the rising trap star was put behind bars for parole violation on November 12. Still, the Atlanta MC went on with business as usual, dropping his much-anticipated album, The State vs. Radric Davis, and giving XXL magazine an in-depth interview for the March issue.”

The XXL issue with Gucci will hit stores in February.

Above: she’s on the cover of the final issue of GIANT.

Below: She performs Empire State of Mind II on Letterman.

Relaunch is an understatement.

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Click below to check out Rihanna’s sexy GQ spread…

(more)

This is in the off chance you love to look at magazine covers as much as I do.

*sarcasm*

Bonus: Drake fills in the blanks in the latest issue of XXL…

Marshal graces the cover of Complex this month. Here are some highlights from the interview:

On Relapse 2:

Well, when I finished Relapse, I had a whole album of material that didn’t make it that I wasn’t ready to throw away, so that was going to be Relapse 2. But then I got with Dre in Hawaii and started recording more, and now the new material has knocked out all the old songs. But yeah, the new material is definitely different. Making Relapse, I was still working the drugs out of my system, so there was a lot of…just jokey shit. It was a lot of punchline-y, funny, shock value—kind of going back to The Slim Shady LP. And that was cool, but I’ve kind of flipped the page. Now I’m going for songs instead of one-liners. I don’t want to make shit that you hear once and then the joke’s over; I want to make records that you could play a hundred times, a thousand times.

On who had the best verse on “Forever”:

Who had the second-best verse? [Laughs.] I don’t know, I like everybody’s verses—but I like Drake’s verse a lot. I wouldn’t say I had the best verse; everybody approached the beat different. Kanye was crazy, too, and Wayne. I just saw the beat differently than anybody else did; for some reason, I felt like the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster.

On Michael Jackson’s death and whether he saw any parallels to his own life:

Oh, 100 percent. When you read things about Michael Jackson it’s hard to decipher what the fuck is true, but there’s the story of how he woke up at whatever time and he needed something to go back to sleep because he had this or that and it didn’t work. That’s exactly what used to happen to me: I would take a couple of pills and I would be up an hour later and I’d want more. Then I’d take more and that would be enough to maybe get me back to sleep for two more hours. Then I’d be wide awake again. So I definitely can relate, and it’s a shame if he didn’t have anybody there to just say, “Michael, you’re an addict, you need help.” It’s one of the pitfalls of fame. I could just say, “Yo, I need this and this and this,” and they’re going to give me whatever I want because [complex: because you’re Eminem]. Exactly, it’s fucked up. The worst thing that could have happened to me as an addict was having money.

On being excluded from MTV’s Hottest MC’s List:

You know, when I heard that the other day, I didn’t really think too much of it. My only comment was, “That’s some peoples’ opinion.” It’s their opinion, and opinions can’t be wrong. As long as I’m comfortable with what I’m doing and I’m comfortable in my zone, then that’s that.