At one point in the early 2010s, Bryson Tiller was ready to sign with Drake’s OVO label, but eventually joined RCA Records instead. It’s been a decade since Tiller’s Trapsoul debut, and his career is still crossing paths with the 6 God, as they teamed up for “Outta Time” in 2020.
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The Louisville native sat down with New Rory & Mal for the episode that posted Thursday (Aug. 21), during which Tiller was candid on the reason why he never joined OVO.
“I’m being so blunt. Honest,” he began. “The only reason I didn’t sign [to OVO] is just because bro didn’t hit me back one time. This was in a moment when my label, like, they was hounding me, they was flying me, they was trying to get me away from Drake.”
The singer continued, “I was like, ‘Yo, OVO is really in my blood, for real.’ I really have studied [Drake’s] catalog. There’s a couple of people that I really consider huge strands of my musical DNA, and Drake is one of them.”
Bryson admitted he even sent Drake a final text giving him another chance before putting pen to paper at RCA.
“He never hit back,” Tiller added. “And I know he’s a super busy dude. I’m not saying that he didn’t want me to sign or whatever, but at that moment, like, I had a kid — people back home that’s looking at me like, ‘Is he gonna do it? Is he gonna make it?’ So I had to go with what was the most sure shot.”
The conversation then moved into what Tiller’s career would have looked like if he had ended up becoming part of the OVO family. But as far as fame goes, the 32-year-old was totally cool with being out of the spotlight and working in the background as part of Drake’s team.
“When people would say, ‘Oh [Drake’s] gonna put you on the shelf, be in the sweatshop,’ I was like, ‘Cool. I’m cool with that.’ I was like, ‘Dog, I know how to write. I’ll write anything that he asks me to do and be just as rich,’” he said. “If you could take away all my fame right now, nobody recognize me, I’ll be so OK with it.”
These days, on the music side, Tiller dropped off his The Vices project, which is one-half of a double-disc, with Solace coming on Oct. 2.
Watch the clip with Bryson Tiller below.