Akon gave a good start to Lady Gaga by signing her, but Drake’s demo tape in 2005 left him indifferent.
Apparently, Akon had a chance to get Drake on his rooster at the beginning of his career, but Drake’s sound lacked originality to a seasoned artist. He explained in his VladTV interview:
Kardinal Offishall brought him to me in 2005, I think it was. It was right before “Best I Ever Had” blew up because, at the time, it was more mixtapeish, you know. At the time, believe it or not, Drake sounded more like Eminem. The demo I heard – he sounded more like Em. But it was around the time when every artist’s developing. You can see the difference between that demo and “Best I Ever Had”. It was completely different.
“Best I Ever Had” peaked up Akon’s interest but now everybody could see Drake’s potential and the competition for getting Drake to sign was too high.
Listen to this bit from Akon’s interview:
