Drake tapped Kevin Durant to A&R his eighth solo album For All the Dogs.
The official credits for the Toronto rapper's new full-length list the Phoenix Suns superstar as his A&R. "Dialed in," Drake captioned a photo of him and Durant on his Instagram Stories after the release of For All the Dogs.
An A&R can fulfill many roles, as explored in this 2020 Pigeons & Planes feature interviewing a number of professionals. "The responsibility of an A&R (short for artist and repertoire)," Malcolm Trapp wrote in the intro, "is to be involved from start to finish—beginning with talent discovery and signing, through the creation of the music, to the marketing and promotion." One A&R, Julissa “Trophy” Bartholomew, noted, "You become a part-time manager, therapist, life coach, financial officer, and friend. Because when you take on an artist, you take on their whole life."
In addition to being the A&R on For All the Dogs, KD—who in 2021 appeared in Drake's Lil Durk-featuring video for "Laugh Now Cry Later"—received a name-drop from Drizzy on the "All the Parties" featuring Chief Keef, where he raps, "Me and KD 'bout to turn up the art."
Of course, "All the Parties" isn't the first time Drake's brought up Durant on a song. Back in 2012, with the then-Oklahoma City Thunder star fresh off carrying his team to the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance, Drake gave KD a shout during his guest verse on French Montana's hit single "Pop That."
"OVO that's major shit, Toronto with me that's mayor shit/Gettin' cheddar packs like KD, OKC that's player shit," Drake rapped.
Four years later, Drizzy unleashed perhaps the most notable Durant reference in a rap song with "Weston Road Flows," a fan favorite from the 6 God's 2016 album Views.
"A lot of people just hit me up when my name is mentioned/Shoutout to KD, we relate, we get the same attention/It’s raining money, Oklahoma City Thunder/The most successful rapper 35 and under," he rapped.
Back in September 2022, Drake hopped on Instagram to celebrate KD's 34th birthday. “More life to my exec producer @easymoneysniper,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories.
