We now live in a world where Drake covers The Velvet Underground's Nico
by Jeremy Mersereau
March 30, 2016
Listen to Drake's mournful, strange cover of Nico's 'These Days.'
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.
Tags: Music, News, Drake, nico, the royal tenenbaums, The Velvet Underground