Drake Financed K-Os’s BLackneck With Hundreds Of Thousands

Drake put hundreds of thousands of dollars behind k-os’s BLackneck, according to The Canadian Press, giving the Canadian rapper room to make music he said labels were reluctant to fund.

The new report put a financial range on backing k-os had already discussed. In an October 21 interview with Billboard Canada, he described Drake as the album’s financier and executive producer. Drake covered the recording costs while urging k-os to follow his own musical ideas, the rapper explained.

For k-os, that money opened up choices about who could play on the record and how much time he could spend experimenting. The 54-year-old told The Canadian Press at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern that established artists face labels reluctant to pay for costly recordings when they already have hits to promote.

“Major labels don’t spend that money on music anymore,” k-os said.

The results included a string section and children’s choir on “Still Number One.” Bob Rock produced “i would never.” Recording locations included his parents’ farm near Whitby, where he also worked inside a camper van from 1984.

The support also came with someone to handle the work of getting sessions together. In the earlier Billboard interview, k-os credited former MuchMusic VJ Matte Babel, DreamCrew’s chief brand officer, with managing the project. He said Babel arranged the studio bookings, stayed in touch and sometimes brought cash to recording sessions.

BLackneck arrived October 30 on Spiritual Tech Records. Apple Music listed seven songs across 22 minutes, with the release following 2015’s Can’t Fly Without Gravity.

The two rappers had made music together long before this album. AllHipHop featured their “Faith” collaboration in August 2010.

K-os told Billboard they reconnected at a club in 2021 or 2022 and exchanged numbers again. Drake asked to hear music, then encouraged him to make a record that reflected his own approach. The backing allowed k-os to bring in the Vancouver String Orchestra. He described the record as drawing on the sounds of the late 1990s and early 2000s, citing influences from OutKast to Shania Twain.

“Our relationship is strictly defined by inspiration,” k-os told Billboard. “We inspire each other.”