TORONTO – More than 15 years after helping a young Drake find his footing in the industry, Canadian alt-rap trailblazer k-os is getting a little help from his old friend.
The Toronto superstar has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into “BLackneck,” k-os’s first studio album in 11 years, giving the rapper the resources to make the kind of ambitious record he says the music industry rarely finances anymore.
But k-os doesn’t view the gesture solely as a “God’s Plan”-worthy act of generosity.
“Sometimes when you lend somebody money, you don’t always do it in a charitable way. Sometimes you just wanna see what they’re gonna do,” the 54-year-old says at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern.
“Because he’s kind of a gambler, I think he’s kinda like, ‘Let’s see what this guy does.’ It’s an experiment.”
Drake is no stranger to big bets, having made headlines for wagering eye-popping sums on NBA games and boxing matches.
“Drake gambles all day every day on so many teams. I’m just glad that I had a chance to put it into the music to make something that actually can have some impact.”
Arriving at the bar with an acoustic guitar in hand, k-os is giving psychedelic cowboy in a tan wide-brimmed hat, oversized white sunglasses and an embroidered Western jacket.
It’s a fitting look for “BLackneck,” a freewheeling joyride through hip-hop, country, rock and soul that recalls the anything-goes sound that made him one of Canada’s most distinctive voices in the early 2000s.
The title, a play on “redneck,” reflects the multi-Juno winner’s upbringing in Whitby, Ont., and his determination to remember where he came from.
“Not trying to change yourself is basically what it means,” he explains. “It’s remaining true to your roots despite the fact that most people in this music industry shape shift to what they’re supposed to be.”
Much of the album was recorded at his parents’ farm near Whitby, including sessions inside a 1984 camper van.
K-os first met Drake in 2009, when the future rap juggernaut was beginning his ascent. The older rapper recalls offering him advice on navigating the Canadian music business.
The two reconnected by chance at a Toronto bar during the pandemic, after not seeing each other for years. They exchanged numbers and eventually resumed contact over text.
Drake asked to hear new material, and k-os obliged.
“He’s like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. Clearly you’re still good at this,’” k-os recalls.
After hearing more songs, Drake encouraged him to make a quintessential k-os record — and offered to bankroll it.
The funding allowed him to experiment, hire top-tier musicians and go for elaborate arrangements.
On the chest-thumping opener, “Still Number One,” he enlisted a string section and children’s choir, while the guitar-driven “i would never.” was produced by Canadian rock heavyweight Bob Rock, whose credits include Metallica and Mötley Crüe.
“I did a record that I couldn’t make in my basement,” k-os says of the independently released album, which lists Drake as an executive producer.
“The thing that makes good music is time. When you have time and you’re not under the gun, you can experiment. And when you can experiment, you come up with crazy stuff.”
K-os says record labels are increasingly reluctant to fund expensive albums, especially when an established artist already has a catalogue of hits to promote.
“Major labels don’t spend that money on music anymore,” he says.
“There’s so much music coming out. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on one record doesn’t make sense for them.”
K-os first emerged as an eccentric counterpoint to the bling-heavy hip-hop landscape of the early aughts, weaving acoustic guitars and soulful melodies into his introspective rhymes.
His 2002 debut, “Exit,” introduced his idiosyncratic sound, while 2004’s “Joyful Rebellion” brought radio hits including “Crabbuckit” and “Man I Used to Be.”
His willingness to both rap and sing expanded the possibilities for Canadian hip-hop artists, including Drake, with whom he toured the U.S. and recorded the songs “Faith” part one and two.
The “Hotline Bling” rapper has since acknowledged k-os’s influence, though the older musician isn’t particularly interested in dwelling on his legacy.
“I’m actually scared of being recognized because then I’m gonna, like, not be angry,” he says with a laugh.
“A lot of the music comes from an angst, kind of, that punk-rock thing of like, nobody knows who I am.”
That underdog mentality runs throughout “BLackneck,” which took shape over several years as k-os quietly accumulated material while living in Vancouver.
He says leaving Toronto freed him from the expectations that came with his earlier success.
“Sometimes when you’re known, you feel like you have to continue on from where you last left off,” he says.
“But if you move away, you can kind of start new.”
On “Still Number One,” he takes aim at rappers whose obsession with maintaining success comes at the expense of creativity.
“People will do anything to keep their position, where I feel like there’s no real position to get because you’re always going to make the best music from being an underdog,” he says.
It’s a philosophy that has helped him make peace with fading from the spotlight.
“I like that people forget because you need that forgettery for you to be able to start,” he says.
“You need a clean slate to start.”
Per k-os, Drake was enthusiastic about the finished album.
“He loved it,” the rapper says, recalling a profanity-laced text expressing his surprise.
For k-os, the greater reward was the freedom to make something that defies expectations.
“People should be perplexed. When they hear good music, it’s like seeing a good movie. It’s like, what was that?” he says.
“I’m doing it for that first listen, to transport people somewhere else.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2026.
