Drake might be something of a laughingstock in the hip-hop world right now in the aftermath of his beef with Kendrick Lamar, but his music — especially his early projects — still get their due respect. Toronto-based Punjabi artist and producer Ikky even went so far as to acknowledge Take Care as inspiration for his and Karan Aujla's viral hit "52 Bars."
Speaking to CBC Music, Ikky specifically noted that the Rick Ross-assisted "Lord Knows" influenced his approach to production on Aujla's 2023 track.
"['Lord Knows'] was the first Drake record I heard because of Rick Ross and, I don't know, it just changed my whole vision on music," he said.
"As soon as Karan came to me with the bars, I was like, 'This is it. This is my chance to bring "Lord Knows" into the Punjabi industry,'" he continued. "It's a different level of production that, to me, was insane at the time I heard it, so when I did '52 Bars' it was like a full circle [moment]. I could, like, compare my own record to, you know, a record that I started listening to Drake with."
"52 Bars" came out as part of Aujla's Four You EP during his prolific 2023 run that nabbed him the JUNO Fan Choice Award. Check it out below, along with "Lord Knows," and see if you can spot the similarities.
