Akon Explains Why He Turned Down The Chance To Sign Drake

Once upon a time, Akon had the opportunity to sign Drake and passed on the shot.

In his new interview with VladTV, Akon revealed that he thought Drizzy "sounded like Eminem" in a demo during the very early stages of his career. "[Canadian rapper] Kardinal Offishall brought him to me back in like 2005, I think it was," the music mogul, who previously signed Lady Gaga, admitted. "Or was it '04? It was right before 'Best I Ever Had' blew up because it was like more mixtape-ish."

"And at the time, believe it or not, Drake sounded more like Eminem. With that demo that I heard? He was sounding more like Em. But I think that was around the time when…That’s every artist developing," he continued. "You can see the difference between that demo and 'Best I Ever Had.' It was completely different."

Offishall tried to convince Akon that Drake was worth signing — even for a million dollars — but he just couldn't fork over the cash for the soon-to-be Canadian superstar. "That's when Kardi was like, ‘N***a, I told you this n***a was [gonna] be the sh*t.' I said, ‘Well sh*t, reach out!’ He said you can but the lowest bid right now is a million.’ I said, ‘Sh*t, I ain’t got a million dollars.'"

As you know, Drake shook off his Degrassi: The Next Generation past with his breakthrough single, "Best I Ever Had," which dropped in 2009. As of 2020, the superstar has an estimated net worth of $150,000 million.

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