Okay so the story of where Drake was actually signed was confusing. Here is the answer he gave from the interview with Complex Magazine.
Complex: For real. Going back to your music, “Best I Ever Had” jumped to #3 on the Billboard charts. And then you announced yesterday that you signed your deal with Universal…
Drake: Nah…I definitely want to clear this up, I didn’t sign to Universal. I’m actually signed to… a lot of people were telling me, “Oh, you should do it independent.” I’m actually 100% independent. I signed to Cortez Bryant and G. Roberson, my managers, so I signed a joint venture between Aspire Music Group, which is them, and Young Money. So the only part that Universal plays is P&D [pressing and distribution]. I’m not a Universal artist. I’m signed to myself.
Complex: What does Young Money bring to the table?
Drake: Since the beginning of this, Lil’ Wayne has always put himself out there on behalf of me, from spitting my verse at the VMAs, to jumping on the songs that I needed him on and always promoting me. Right now it’s more about building up Young Money, as opposed to what Young Money brings to the table at this point. Obviously, what Young Money brings to the table is Lil’ Wayne. He’s a powerhouse and I felt it was only fair to stay loyal. I thought it was only fair for him to get that look and I wanted the YM logo on the album and to make sure that he knows that I don’t take what he did for me for granted.
Complex: You were entertaining other offers from Atlantic and Interscope, right?
Drake: I can definitely say that I wanted to be over at Interscope for a while, but it wouldn’t allow me to work with Wayne the way that I wanted to work with Wayne. I had to make a sacrifice. But with that being said, if we sell some records and people actually see how the record deal breaks down… Somebody told me they saw my deal the other day and they said it was one of the worst record deals in history [for] the label. That’s a good thing for me. I own everything, I have 100% creative control, I own all my masters, everything. I’m blessed to be in that situation. If we sell some records, I think we’ll just add to the historic pace that this has been going at.
Complex: There was a feeling that if you didn’t sign to a major label, that would signal the demise of the record industry.
Drake: I think that it all depends on the success on the project. I can have this conversation with you and tell you the impact I think it may have, especially when the details of the deal get out. But it’s all dependent on what I do. I first have to make the right album that will sell some records. With that being said, I definitely think it could cause a bit of a shift if we find a way to sell a million records.
Complex: What made you want to strive to stay independent?
Drake: Since I started, I’ve always been giving my music away for free…I’ve always kind of done it for the people, you know? So I just want them to still have some attachment to this project. I don’t want to lose my fans completely because they support me in a way that’s more than just listening to my music. They support me like we’re friends. They support me like they have emotions invested in it. So I want there to be a challenge to it, so when it drops, they’re looking at the numbers, they’re maybe even clicking it twice on iTunes just to prove a point. I want it to be fun, man. This shit is just not exciting if it’s so straight forward like, “I’m putting a record out, go to the store and buy it” and there’s so many people behind it, it has nothing to do with me. You know? It’s like, fuck it, let’s just have fun, let’s see if we can shake up the world, let’s see if we can fuck with the system. I just figure it’d make it more interesting on the album day.
Complex: There were rumors of a $4 million bonus…
Drake: [Laughs] Where is it? Tell me where it is, I’ll go pick it up right now. I got some money. I got a little money. I’ll be alright for a couple months.
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