Drake Covers Kanye West’s ‘Only One,’ ‘FourFiveSeconds’ at New York Gig
Nearly 24 hours after Drake dropped his surprise 17-track mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late on iTunes, the rapper capped off his busy day by co-headlining the Sprite NBA All-Star Weekend concert along with Nas at New York’s Irving Plaza. The small gig came a night after Drake watched Kanye West perform at the Roc City Classic, and this time around the Yeezus rapper joined Drake onstage for “I Don’t Like (Remix).”
After West departed – but not without first handing Drake a pair of his new Yeezy Boosts – Drake delivered brief, low-key renditions of Kanye’s collaborations with Paul McCartney, “Only One” and “FourFiveSeconds.”
“Kanye West, that’s like a mentor to me. He’s one of the greatest artists. Period, in life. He’s got this song I really like,” Drake said before launching into “Only One.” Watch a snippet of that cover from Elliott Wilson’s Instagram (via Pitchfork):
Riding along the same “Only One” keyboard melody, Drake then busted out the chorus to the super-trio of Rihanna, Paul McCartney and Kanye’s “FourFiveSeconds.” (However, the rapper didn’t attempt Kanye’s latest track “Wolves.”)
Drake’s Irving Plaza set also featured cameos by Travi$ Scott and ILoveMakonnen (for “Tuesday”) as well as performances of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late tracks like “6 God,” “Legend” and “Energy” alongside his hit singles.
According to Billboard, because Drake dropped his surprise mixtape on iTunes, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is now the frontrunner to finally dethrone Taylor Swift’s 1989 on next week’s Billboard 200.