Drake and African artists have been making hits together for more than a decade, and the results include some of the biggest songs of his career. Their work together has produced a song that topped charts in 15 countries, a Hot 100 number one, a Grammy and an album executive-produced by a South African DJ. There is even a Ghanaian hiplife classic hidden inside one of his tracks.
Here are nine times Drake worked with African artists, from a Lagos street anthem to a Ghanaian hiplife sample.
1. The “Ojuelegba” remix with Wizkid (2015)
It started with an introduction. London grime star Skepta connected Drake with Wizkid in 2015 to work on a remix of “Ojuelegba”, Wizkid’s song about the Lagos neighbourhood where he grew up. Drake and Skepta both added verses, and the song that had won Song of the Year at The Headies suddenly had fans in Toronto and London.
2. “One Dance” with Wizkid and Kyla (2016)
The relationship paid off a year later. “One Dance” was built around a 2008 UK funky track by Kyla, with Wizkid on vocals and production help. One of its co-producers was South Africa’s DJ Maphorisa, so two African countries are in the credits.
The song reached number one in 15 countries, spent ten weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and 15 weeks in a row at number one in the UK. Wizkid became the first Nigerian artist to top the Hot 100, and he later earned a Guinness World Record for featuring on what was then the most streamed song on Spotify.
3. “Come Closer” with Wizkid (2017)
Recorded in early 2016 at the same time as “One Dance”, “Come Closer” was their third official collaboration, this time with Wizkid in the lead. It was the third single from his album Sounds from the Other Side and became the best-performing African record of 2017.
It went platinum in the US and UK, double platinum in Canada and triple platinum in South Africa, and it gave Wizkid his first UK chart entry as a lead artist.
4. “Get It Together” with Black Coffee and Jorja Smith (2017)
Drake’s 2017 project More Life moved from grime to dancehall to South African house. “Get It Together”, sung with Jorja Smith, is built on reworked elements of Black Coffee‘s “Superman”, his song with singer Bucie. It also contains an uncredited sample of Burna Boy‘s song “More Life”.
More Life debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, which put a Durban house record in front of millions of new listeners.
5. “Won’t Be Late” with Swae Lee, produced by Tekno (2018)
Nigerian singer and producer Tekno, the man behind “Pana”, built the beat for Swae Lee’s “Won’t Be Late”, which features Drake. Mike Will Made It added extra production. It is one of several cases of an African producer quietly shaping a big American record.
6. “Fountains” with Tems (2021)
When Drake announced the guests on Certified Lover Boy, he put up billboards in cities connected to each artist. Tems was announced on a billboard in Lagos. Her song with Drake, “Fountains”, sat on a record that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 613,000 units.
7. “Wait for U” with Future and Tems (2022)
Future and Drake built “Wait for U” on a sample of “Higher”, from Tems’ 2020 EP For Broken Ears, and she is credited as a writer and featured artist. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Tems’ first number one, and won the Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Pitchfork’s reviewer even said he would rather listen to the original. Read how Tems became Afrobeats’ most wanted voice.
8. Honestly, Nevermind, executive-produced by Black Coffee (2022)
Drake’s surprise 2022 album leaned heavily into house music, and he did not do it alone. Black Coffee, the Durban DJ and Grammy winner, was one of its executive producers. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. For Black Coffee, house music is home territory.
9. “Calling My Name” and an Obrafour sample (2022)
Here is the one Ghanaians love. “Calling My Name”, also from Honestly, Nevermind, contains a sample of “Oye Ohene” by Obrafour, the Ghanaian hiplife rapper behind the classic album Pae Mu Ka. A song by one of hiplife’s pioneers ended up inside a Drake house track.
Read more about Obrafour in our Pae Mu Ka story.
Why Drake and African artists keep working together
The pattern is simple. Drake listens to what is moving in London, Lagos and Johannesburg, and he usually brings in the people who made it rather than copying the sound. That has been good business for him and has opened doors for Wizkid, Tems, Black Coffee and others.
It has not always been even. Some African elements on his records, such as the Burna Boy sample on “Get It Together”, went uncredited. As African artists grow bigger, they are getting better at making sure their names are on the credits too.
