Drake Recruits Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Kanye West for Debut Album, "Thank Me Later"

Drake has lined up Jay-Z, Young Jeezy and "Forever" co-stars Kanye West and Lil Wayne to appear on his much-anticipated debut album Thank Me Later, the rapper told MTV News. Backstage at Wednesday's Grammy Nominations Concert, the MC told Rolling Stone, "My album is slated to come out in March. I'm still working on the album, but they might try to move it up."

Even without releasing a full album, Rolling Stone's 2009 Artist to Watch was still nominated for a pair of Grammys, locking up nods in both the Best Rap Song and Best Rap Solo Performance categories for "Best I Ever Had." It hasn't been all good news for Drake in 2009, as a leg injury forced the Canadian rapper off Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted tour, but it allowed Drake to instead focus on his debut disc. "It's just pulling everybody together: I had a wish list for my managers of everybody I wanted involved that stem beyond hip-hop," Drake told MTV. "I'm trying to pull it all together."

One person Drake had high on his wish list of collaborators is R&B singer Sade, though it doesn't appear that the two have recorded together yet. Plus, there was one more mystery guest that Drake was tight-lipped about. "It's this other one I'm excited about that's kinda left [field]," Drake told MTV. "It's gonna be a great project — well-rounded."

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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