Montell Jordan: ‘I Was Like Drake Before Drake Was Drake’

While discussing some of his trials and tribulations in the music industry, Montell Jordan said, “I was like Drake before Drake was Drake.”

What makes the statement even more peculiar is that he prefaced it by saying, “I probably shouldn’t say it.”

But, the husband, father, singer, and man of God went on to explain how he opened the door for many other artists because he “was literally rap-singing over loops and breakbeats, and noby was doing that.”

I’m going to make a bold statement here, and I probably shouldn’t say it because this is VLAD TV.

I shouldn’t say this… But, I had to carve out something that hadn’t been done before.

And so, I was literally rap-singing over loops and breakbeats, and nobody was doing that.

And so, I was like Drake before Drake was Drake…

Like, long before artists were rapping and singing over their own records, radio did not know what to do with me because I’m singing but I’m rapping at the same time…

Nobody was doing that at that time, and so I started finding my way in hip hop and R&B when those worlds weren’t combined.

When the charts weren’t combined.

When R&B radio was straight R&B, straight R&B, straight R&B… ‘Get that rap sh*t outta here we only play straight R&B.’

You know, that’s one of the ways that me and Def Jam had a successful marriage because my music helped LL, and helped DMX later, and helped all these other rap artists be heard on radio, sometimes for the first time because R&B music was the way for them to be able to infiltrate radio.

Watch the clip from the Montell Jordan interview on VLAD tv below:

So according to Montell Jordan, he was Drake before Drake, and he is responsible for LL Cool J, DMX, and all these other rappers getting their songs played on the radio.

Ironically, Montell Jordan’s hit single “This Is How We Do It” was released in 1995, and LL’s hit single “I’m Bad” was released in 1987.

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