Drake may not be looking to win a Grammy Award next year, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be sitting idly by. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the triple-threat admits he is taking time off from music to focus on developing content for the big and small screen.
He told the publication, “I’m sure I’ll stop [making music] one day. When it starts to feel like I’m making it up. Hopefully I’ll catch it before I ever get there, right? But right now it feels like we just started, so I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. But I do plan on expanding — to take six months or a year to myself and do some great films. Music’s always there….When I get back into acting, I want to do things that make people go, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that.’”
Specifically, here’s what he’s got going on:
— At the time of the interview, Drake and his longtime manager and business partner Adel “Future” Nur were in their hometown of Toronto to premiere (at the Toronto Film Festival, no less) their first movie as producers, The Carter Effect, a documentary about former NBA star Vince Carter. The duo is also shopping the film around; according to THR, it may land at Netflix.
— Drizzy has teamed up with Netflix to revive, as executive producer, the critically acclaimed but short-lived UK crime series Top Boy, which THR described as “an across-the-pond version of The Wire.” Drake discovered the show via YouTube years after it had run its course and Netflix’s VP of original content Cindy Holland said, “Drake’s passion for Top Boy was clear from the first conversation, and he really drove its resurrection.” The revival will go into production next year for a 2019 debut.
— Drake is partnering with Steve Golin, who runs production house Anonymous Content for an untitled TV series. Anonymous Content has helmed Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight, Best Picture Golden Globe winner The Revenant, TV hits True Detective, Mr. Robot, 13 Reasons Why, and more.
— Drake is also joining forces with film studio A24. Production head Noah Sacco wouldn’t divulge details, but said, “When we spoke with them, they articulated their passion for shepherding new voices. We look at what they’ve achieved in the music industry. And it made a lot of sense to us. We found that we saw eye to eye very quickly.”
— Finally, Apple (namely, Jimmy Iovine) has, according to THR, “given [Drake] the go-ahead to produce whatever he chooses.” His history with the streaming service is a good indication of what’s ahead: Views was the first album to top 1 billion spins on the service, and a single episode of his OVO Sound Radio show on Beats 1 became the most listened-to show on the platform to-date. Iovine told the publication, “If I had a company today, I would give it to Drake and Future to run in a minute. They’re incredibly talented guys. Very, very gifted.”
‘Drink Champs’ | Irv Gotti calls Drake a “genius,” compares him to Eminem (Sneak Peek)