Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ Features Michael Jackson Vocal, References Newborn Son
By Variety Staff
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The long-awaited new album by Drake has arrived. “Scorpion” clocks in at 25 tracks, 12 on side A and 13 on side B, and features guest appearances by Jay-Z (“Talk Up”), Static Major and Ty Dolla Sign (“After Dark”) and a previously unreleased vocal by Michael Jackson which leads the hook to the song “Don’t Matter to Me.”
Credited elsewhere on the album are Nicki Minaj, Future and Paul Anka, the 76-year-old crooner known for classics like “Puppy Love” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and a longtime collaborator of Jackson’s.
The album also seems to confirm rumors that has fathered a son, acknowledging his newborn child in several tracks including “Emotionless” and “March 14.” Among the revelations, Drake raps, “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid,” “Kiss my son on the forehead” and “The kid is mine.” Other references include lyrics about George Zimmerman and Malcolm X.
Within an hour of its release, “” shot up to No. 1 on the iTunes chart and on Apple Music. Spotify users, however, had to wait more than three hours until it was available on the streaming service. On Friday, Spotify will host a campaign across the platform in which Drake will take over several playlists, including popular hip-hop destination Rap Caviar. Three hours after its midnight ET release, the album was not yet available on Amazon in digital or physical formats but came online by 1 a.m. PT. It is expected to be at all digital providers on June 29.
The industry is keeping a close eye on Drake’s out-the-gate streaming numbers and how “Scorpion” will compare to the year’s biggest mover Post Malone, which saw 385 million streams of his album “Beerbongs & Bentleys” in its first week out.
The album was produced by Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib and features additional credits for No I.D., PARTYNEXTDOOR, Boi-1da, Stefflon Don, Murda Beatz, James Fauntleroy and nineteen85, among many others. See the full list at Complex .
