The Source |Bryson Tiller Explains How the Long-Awaited Drake Collab Finally Happened

Bryson Tiller released his highly-anticipated True to Self follow-up, Anniversary, last week and fans were pleased to see that Drake was featured on there.

The pair were set to collaborate since 2015 when the Toronto rapper called Pen Griffey his “biggest competition.” Tiller teased that he was going to appear on Drizzy’s More Life project, but that clearly didn’t happen.

During an interview on Genius’ For The Record series, the Louisville native explained that Drake was actually supposed to make a guest appearance on TRAPSOUL but it fell through.

“We didn’t get to make that happen, obviously, but this is dope to come back five years later—full circle—and do it,” he said, before revealing that Drake had his eyes on “The Sequence” and Tiller’s breakout single, “Don’t.”

Bryson continued explaining that his mental state is what held him back from collaborating with The Boy.

“This is how it happened, actually. About eight, nine months ago—me and him have always, like, sent each other ideas, or whatever,” Tiller said. “I was supposed to be on More Life; at that time, I was just in a terrible mental space. I really couldn’t deliver the proper Bryson Tiller verse for a Drake album … it just wasn’t there at all. So I ended up not getting on the project. Anyway, we still kept in contact over the years.”

He went on to explain that Drake actually sent a verse that was intended to be featured on his Serenity project, but Bryson was still hesitant about finishing the track. “I was like, ‘Wow, you sound amazing on this’ … I sat on it for a while, and I kind of found myself in the same place that I was when we first started collaborating,” Tiller said. “… I don’t wanna even come on a song if I’m not really feeling it … I kind of was just sitting on it for a while.”

Bryson Tiller’s manager, Neil Dominique, inquired about the verse during a studio session for Anniversary and encouraged the crooner to drop it. “[Dominique] was like, ‘Man, that shit’s. I ain’t gonna lie. I don’t feel like shit would ever come out without you,’” Tiller recalled. “… He left the studio, and for the first time, I went in there and knocked it out … I was like, ‘Yo, can I use it on my album?’ [Drake] was like, ‘Yeah. Let’s go. Let’s go. I’m hype.’ So, that’s how that happened.”