Music

We now live in a world where Drake covers The Velvet Underground's Nico

by Jeremy Mersereau

Those eagerly awaiting the (presumed) April 16th release of Drake’s Views From The 6 got some much-needed material to tide them over yesterday, in the form of two leaked tracks: “Controlla”, featuring Jamaican dancehall king Popcaan, and something a whole lot weirder.

The other of the two purported ‘leaks’ originally appeared to be a straightforward cover of Nico’s iconic, German-accented “These Days”, itself a version of a Jackson Browne tune. You might know Nico’s version from a prominent appearance in The Royal Tenenbaums.

Drizzy stans who immediately started slotting the mournful “These Days” cover into a theoretical Views tracklist were being premature, however: it was later revealed to be was part of a covers EP, Love Songs for Tough Guys, from artist, ahem, Babeo Baggins from Barf Troop.

“Drake is a friend of mine,” Baggins told Pitchfork about the cover, who wasted no time throwing shade. “‘These Days’ is my favorite song in the world and I showed him the song because he had never heard it. He connected with it, which explains us doing the cover,” she explained. Listen to the full version of Babeo’s Drake-featuring cover, re-titled “Things I Forgot To Do”, below:

In addition, a Popcaan-featuring dancehall jam called “Controlla” was also apparently leaked, though it’s currently unclear if it will appear on Views From The 6 or if it’s a throwaway. You can hear both “Controlla” and the original Drake-only “These Days” cover over at 6track, for the time being.

Will Drake take his Velvet Underground appreciation any further? Only time will tell.