The Truth About The Weeknd And Drake's Relationship

Throughout hip-hop's evolution, we've seen some pretty great collaborations. Whether it be DaBaby and Megan Thee Stallion, Kanye West and Jay-Z, or even Lil Baby and Gunna, it's without question that these match-ups prove what great musical chemistry can accomplish. For Drake, it seems he's already proven he can make a hit with any of your favorite artists. Aside from the legendary hits he's made as ⅓ of the Young Money trinity, along with Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, the "Laugh Now, Cry Later" crooner's musical matchups with fellow Canadian artist The Weeknd are ones that we can't seem to forget.

Nearly a decade ago, Drake introduced one of his biggest protégés to the mainstream scene in 2010 after posting two of The Weeknd's songs on his October's Very Own (OVO) blog, per XXL. The two would meet a year later in 2011 while The Weeknd was promoting his debut House of Balloons mixtape. That same year, the "Starboy" singer appeared on Drake's sophomore album Take Care as both a writer and an artist for songs "Crew Love," "The Ride," "Practice," and "Shot For Me." Additionally, Drake brought The Weeknd on tour to be his part of his live shows as an opening act. Although the OVOXO duo instantly became a fan favorite, their friendship outside of the studio faced a few hardships. Keep scrolling to find out where Drake and The Weeknd's friendship is today.

In October 2011, Drake spoke highly of The Weeknd in an interview. "He's like a writer, collaborator on four songs on my album, which I'm very proud of. I usually don't branch out writing-wise working with other people," he told MTV News (via XXL). "I usually like to write all my own stuff, but we get it. We try to tap into the same emotions because we're from the same city." Although the two effortlessly made hits with one another that appear on both of their early projects, Drake did not get the chance to sign The Weeknd.

By 2012, The Weeknd built a fanbase of his own. Drake told Sway Calloway in 2012 that he was working on officially signing the "What You Need" crooner to his OVO Sound label, per XXL. "As far as on paper, it's all being worked out, but that's not really what counts anyway. What counts to me is the fact that the affiliation is so known, and that's all I really care about," he said. "I want to continue being involved in his career and vice versa and keep making music together." 

Unfortunately for Drake, the singer had other plans. The Weeknd signed with Republic Records in September 2012. Many speculated that Drake wasn't happy about it after he tweeted, "You won't get away with just a thank you ... you owe me a favor." Yikes.

The Weeknd and Drake's relationship hasn't been the easiest. Between Drake and Bella Hadid's dating rumors to shady Instagram comments, Drake and The Weeknd faced a lot of hardships in their friendship. In November 2017, Drake responded to an Instagrammer's claim that The Weeknd wrote most of his "Take Care" album, writing (via XXL), "Abel Tesfaye CO WROTE on 'Shot For Me' and 'Practice,' obviously was featured on 'Crew Love' and 'The Ride' and that's it. There's 20 songs on that album ... don't try me."

In 2019, it was speculated that The Weeknd shaded Drake on his "Lost in the Fire" single. In the song, The Weeknd said: "And I just want a baby with the right one/'Cause I would never be the one to hide one." Clearly, The Weeknd had listened to Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon" diss to the rapper a few times too many.

Since then, things are looking up for the two. In Drake's drill-inspired 2020 song "War," he admitted that he wanted to bury the hatchet with his protégé in the line "And the boy that sound like he sang on 'Thriller,' you know that's been my n****/ Yeah, we just had to fix things, family, six tings, we can't split up." While we don't know if The Weeknd's ready to drop the beef, but we surely hope we can get another collab out of the pair in the future.

As previously reported by XXL, it was mentioned by fans on Instagram that The Weeknd wrote most of the songs on Drake's 2011 hit album "Take Care." After Drake himself denied those claims, it appeared The Weeknd had his say on the matter during his 2015 Rolling Stone cover story interview.

After Drake welcomed The Weeknd to the mainstream audience, the "Can't Feel My Face" hitmaker admitted he wrote a "handful" of songs on the LP and was open to Drake using as many of his songs as he wanted. "I gave up almost half of my album," he shared before expressing his gratitude for the rapper. "It's hard. I will always be thankful — if it wasn't for the light he shined on me, who knows where I'd be. And everything happens for a reason," The Weeknd added. At the time of Drake's "Take Care" era, he considered the "Hotline Bling" mogul as "my closest friend in the industry."

The Weeknd's contribution to "Take Care" helped the album become a huge success. Their single, "Crew Love," has been certified platinum by RIAA after 1 million sales in the U.S. alone while the album itself has sold over 6 million.

The Weeknd is notorious for being a private individual, despite his celebrity. Nonetheless, several of his relationships have been documented in the public eye. In May 2015, Us Weekly confirmed the singer was dating model Bella Hadid. Their relationship was well-documented in the press and they weren't shy about making a red carpet appearance together. By November 2016, however, People reported the couple had split and gone their separate ways. "They still have a great deal of love for one another and will remain friends," an inside source said.

A year later, Life & Style revealed Bella had reportedly been secretly dating Drake behind the scenes since June of 2017 after Drake threw her a birthday party. "She thought it was so romantic. It started out casual, but they're definitely serious [now]. They've been meeting up and going out for romantic dinners," a source expressed. While neither Drake nor Bella ever confirmed they were a couple, Harper's Bazaar noted that Drake hinted in several of his songs on his 2018 "Scorpion" album that he did indeed date the model. While appearing on "Watch What Happens Live!" Bella's mom, Yolanda Hadid, stated Drake and her daughter were only "friends."

After rumors suggested Drake had broken the bro code, E! insisted The Weeknd and Bella were "exclusively dating." With that being said, it wasn't meant to be as their relationship was called off again by August 2019, per E!.

Drake and The Weeknd's relationship has had its fair share of highs and lows over the past decade. While both have been able to carve out successful careers without the help of one another, it appears they have been able to settle any beef that may have existed and have remained friends. As noted by Paper, the lyrics in Drake's 2019 song "War" suggested he wanted to let go of any bad feelings the pair may have ever had: "And the boy that sound like he sang on 'Thriller,' you know that's been my n****, yeah / We just had to fix things, family, 6 tings, we can't split up," he rapped.

In February 2022, The Weeknd celebrated his 32nd birthday in Las Vegas, according to ET Canada. As seen in an Instagram video upload, their friendship proved to be back on as Drake was in attendance and chose to pubically share his love and appreciation for the singer on the night. "I was there from day one and I'm grateful not only to be here with my brothers but just grateful that the family is back together where we belong from the greatest city in the world," he said.