Drake, 34, has been busy in the studio with Brent Faiyaz, 25. The pair just dropped their new song “Wasting Time” on Wednesday, June 30. The Toronto-born rapper seems to rap about a past relationship in his verse while paying homage to the late Aaliyah, who is one of his idols (he has a tattoo of the late singer, who passed in a 2001 plane crash). “Checkmate, even though you hate that I even check her/I’ll still get an E for effort/Only time I play the back and forth is Aaliyah record,” he raps at one point, going on to make references to Purple Rain and The Queen’s Gambit.
“‘Cause shorty stay with calculatin’ moves, like Beth Harmon,” he says earlier in the verse, nodding to the character played by Anya Taylor-Joy in the Netflix series. “Swear I’m more ‘Purple Rain’ Prince than Prince Charmin,” he adds, shouting out the late legend Prince and his iconic record and film. “If you’re gonna waste your time/then waste your time with me/you can have all the space/more than you need,” Brent also croons over the synth-like beat.
The R&B-tinged track was produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, collectively known as The Neptunes. Brent, who has over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify, has has a busy 2021: the Columbia, Maryland native released three new songs back in February, along with tune “Show U Off” in March. As for Drake, he last dropped extended play Scary Hours 2 in March, which included tracks “What’s Next,” Lil’ Baby collaboration “Wants and Needs,” along with the “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” with Rick Ross. The rapper has previously announced he is working on his forthcoming sixth album Certified Lover Boy.
Brent Faiyaz and Drake’s new single “Wasting Time” officially drops tomorrow night
— Drake Direct (@DrakeDirect_) June 30, 2021
Drake also made an appearance on Nicki Minaj‘s “Seeing Green” off of her mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. The early 2010s sounding tune reunited the Young Money duo with Lil’ Wayne. In an Instagram live prior to the track’s release, Nicki revealed that Drake found the beat for her — and helped her out of a writer’s block. “What made you think I would sound good on that?” Nicki asked. “It just didn’t feel right with you not being on it,” Drake explained, as he walked outside on a dimly lit street.
“That’s the only way I can put it. It was fun the other way, but it’s epic this way…You know we’ve had some real hearts to hearts lately — it’s your world, and no one does this better than you. When you’re gone, we miss the bars and the energy you bring,” the Canadian star, who got his start on Degrassi: The Next Generation, also said. On the song, which is a play on the term seeing “red” (for jealousy or negative feelings), Nicki, Drake and Wayne rap about a positive outlook on life.
