Just weeks following Drake‘s public outburst against Rolling Stone Magazine for swapping out his planned cover for a memorial issue to late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, the rapper has split from his PR firm ID-PR who represented him during the whole debacle.
Billboard reports, the PR company initiated the split soon after the Rolling Stone incident unfolded. Drake had been working with ID for the past year to handle publicity for his third album Nothing Was the Same, as well as his current Would You Like a Tour? tour.
Drake was publicly unhappy with his recent Rolling Stone profile, claiming that published comments he made about Kanye West‘s album Yeezus were said off the record and he also blasting the magazine for promising him the cover and later dedicating it to Hoffman.
“I’m disgusted with that. RIP to Philip Seymour Hoffman. All respect due. But the press is evil,” read Drake’s tweet at the time, which has since been deleted. He also added, “I’m done doing interviews for magazines. I just want to give my music to the people. That’s the only way my message gets across accurately.”
In the profile, Drake also had words to say about the content of a text message Macklemore sent to Kendrick Lamar during this year’s Grammy Awards, calling it “wack as fuck” while also expressing contempt that he didn’t get one. “No, in that case, you robbed everybody. We all need text messages!,” he is quoted as saying.
Drake later apologised to Hoffman’s family for his outburst about the magazine cover. “I apologize to anybody who took my initial comments out of context because in no way would I ever want to offend the Hoffman family or see myself as bigger than that moment,” he said in a post on his website.
Drake also issued a more detailed and contrite account of his thoughts on the cover on his official blog. “Today I was forced out of my character and felt the need to react swiftly. These days are the worst ones,” he wrote.
“Waking up after a great night in the studio and it’s your day to be picked apart. After dwelling on it for a few hours or days you will come to the conclusion that you brought it on yourself almost every time,” revealed the rapper.
Billboard claim Drake has a reputation for being difficult to manage when it comes to publicity. In a statement PR company ID said, “Drake is an incredibly talented artist and we’re proud of our results for Nothing Was the Same and Would You Like a Tour? We wish him the best.”
I'm done doing interviews for magazines. I just want to give my music to the people. That's the only way my message gets across accurately.
— Drizzy (@Drake) February 13, 2014
