#TB: Did Drake Know LeBron Was Coming To Miami In 2009-2010?

Now it's been known that Drake and LeBron have been friends for quite some time, we've seen pictures of the 2 in the studio, and even partying after one of LeBron's championships in Miami (although there is a hilarious video of Drake being shut down by security and being told he can't go celebrate with the team, you can see that here). But listening to an old Drake loose track titled "You Know You Know" almost insinuates that Drake knew that LeBron was going to leave Cleveland to go and play with the Miami Heat.

Now I always mix the years up, but supposedly back in the 09-10 NBA playoffs when LeBron was struggling to lead a one dimensional Cavaliers team to the finals, LeBron and his team had been eliminated in the 2nd round by the Boston Celtics (who would eventually go on to play in the Finals ad lose to the Los Angeles Lakers). During this series, however, (supposedly) Drake had released that infamous song "You Know You Know" (which was supposedly a loose track leading up to the release of Drake's debut album, Thank Me Later).


(*Pretty sure this is the official audio, but pay attention to lines at 1:00-1:05 and 2:11-2:16. Also, I do not own these songs, or the rights to them*)

Did you hear that?  Did you hear what that man Young Sweet Jones said?  And this supposedly dates back to that fateful playoff series where LeBron and his Cavs had an early playoff exit (again), wouldn't it only make sense that LeBron had been friends with Dwayne Wade for awhile, and had maybe partied with Wade and Drake before and had these discussions of forming this super team?  Forget Wade, but how good of friends could Drake and LeBron had been before his taking his talents to South Beach?  How would Drake have known? Oh you know, you know.

 
The above picture is Genius' annotation of Drake's famed lyrics. So did Drake know that LeBron was going to Miami?  He had to of. I mean it's all been practically laid out right in front of your eyes to see!  The funny thing abut this song is that I was going through some old tracks in my own music library and completely forgot about these references. This track just goes to show you Drake's influence, I mean he was practically being a recruiter for the Heat in the summer of 2010 if you really think about it. And the "tell your girl I can pull some budget strings, so we're courtside when LeBron get a fuckin' ring" line only rings true to this day because guess where Drake was?  Courtside, when LeBron got his fuckin' ring. You have to respect that type of "watch me do it" attitude, since, well,  Drake can do it all, right?            
  

Songs You Didn't Know Had Different Versions (Not Remixes)

The music industry is something a lot of people will never understand. While some constantly wonder about the dynamic behind it all, and how albums are narrowed down to which songs make the album, which songs are made the single, and how artists determine what songs fit and don't fit the concept of an album (or maybe that's just my crazy ass), the fans are usually stuck in the dark about the behind the scenes aspect of it. I've always been interested in how things come about in the making of an album or the recording of different songs, and a lot of that is the fact that there is so much evidence that some ideas don't pan out how rappers (or artists in general) originally planned them to. So to show my interest (and hopefully have you express yours as well) I put together a small list of songs that have other lesser known versions.

Royce Da 5'9 ft. Big Sean - My Own Planet (other version features Joe Budden, Royce's Success Is Certain album)

This version of Royce Da 5'9's "My Own Planet" you would know if you listened to his The Bar Exam 3 mix tape. The Success Is Certain album version of this song features Royce's fellow Slaughterhouse group member Joe Budden. It's hard to distinguish why Royce would choose to switch out Sean's verse with Joe's, or even why he would want to put the song on his album, but both are great mixes. Royce has made it known in the past that he doesn't appreciate Sean's getting big and forgetting to show other Detroit rappers love (though the new Shady XV leaks would say differently), but you wouldn't be able to tell from this jam.

Eminem ft. Royce Da 5'9 - Renegade (original is a Jay-Z song featured on Jay's The Blueprint album)

Bad Meets Evil fans are sure to love this one (if you don't know about it already). Eminem's Renegade verse is already hailed as one of the best guest verses ever (and one of the first and only cases of someone outshining Jay-Z on his own song), but did you know that Bad Meets Evil did the original version to the now Jay-Z claimed song?  Yep it's true, I couldn't tell you how I stumbled across this, but while Eminem keeps the same verses he had in the Jay-Z version, it's very interesting to hear Royce's approach to his first verse because he keeps almost the exact same rhyme scheme that Eminem used for his guest verse on Notorious B.I.G's "Dead Wrong", listen to them both and compare if you don't believe me!  Little facts and gems like this are what make me love what I do that much more, and they certainly display the conceptual talents of Royce and Eminem.

Drake ft. Bun B - Miss Me (original version features Lil Wayne and makes Drake's Thank Me Later album)

This is certainly a sweet mix if you're a Bun B fan (which you should be, check out my Bun B's influence article if you haven't yet), and it makes sense to include a Bun verse since he was already featured in the song, even in the Lil Wayne version (29 second mark). It's no surprise that Drake felt it was right to have a Bun B feature at some point, considering his being featured twice on Bun's Trill O.G. album, and especially considering Drake's praise of Houston and it's part in shaping him.

Knowing there are little known different versions of songs out there just makes you feel so special doesn't it?  I know it makes me feel good, shit I feel like I work for Interscope. Of course the label doesn't leak music, that's certainly the last thing they would want to happen, but still. Having access to these little known tracks is a pretty cool and special thing, and really puts that thought in your mind: "what other versions of songs have been made that haven't been put out?" The thought of it all is too much to process right now, but be sure to let me know if you know any more little known alternate versions of songs that didn't end up on albums/mixtapes on Google+ or Twitter (@SuperNovaRover).