Drake thanks Kanye West ahead of ‘So Far Gone’ streaming release

West called out the Toronto rapper in a series of tweets last year for not supporting him when he was struggling with his mental health

Drake has thanked Kanye West ahead of the release of his 2009 mixtape ‘So Far Gone’ on streaming platforms, despite the ‘Ye’ star “wildin on Twitter”.

The track ‘Say What’s Real’, which features on the mixtape, includes a sample of West’s ‘Say You Will’.

In an Instagram post announcing that ‘So Far Gone’ will now be available on streaming platforms from Thursday (February 14), Drake thanked the figures who were involved in the record and his early career. Tagging West’s now-defunct Instagram account, he wrote: “A decade ago I rapped over your beat cause you just made the best shit and even though you stay wilding on Twitter these days I will never forget what you contributed to the game and my career.”

Drake is likely referencing West’s string of tweets last December in which he revealed he had received a request to clear the sample on ‘Say What’s Real’ before accused Drake of “playing all these industry games” and “sending purple emojis when [he was] dealing with mental shit.”

In those messages, the ‘Life Of Pablo’ rapper suggested he would not give Drake permission to use the sample officially. It’s currently unclear whether the upcoming streaming release of ‘So Far Gone’ will feature an edited version of ‘Say What’s Real’ or if West has changed his mind.

Meanwhile, Drake made a surprise appearance at the Grammys on Sunday (February 10) as he picked up the award for Best Rap Song for ‘God’s Plan’. His acceptance speech appeared to be cut short as he told the room full of artists they didn’t need awards to be considered winners.

A source from the Grammys later explained that producers had thought the star was finished when they cut to commercials but had offered him the opportunity to complete his speech. He reportedly confirmed that he had said all he wanted to at the time.