Canadian comedian Trixx has recalled the time he was paid just $40 to play one of Drake’s earliest records at a Toronto club, years before the rapper became a global superstar.
During a recent appearance on the TFU Podcast, Trixx reflected on his days working as a DJ before focusing on stand-up comedy. At the time, Drake was still primarily known for playing Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, while his team was working to get his music heard around Toronto.
“When I was a DJ, I played his first record and his manager gave me $40 to do it,” Trixx recalled. “This is when he’s nobody. This is when he was like the kid on Degrassi, little light-skinned dude in the corner.”
According to Trixx, the song was “Do What You Do,” an early Drake track that he believes bears a strong resemblance to Joe Budden’s music from that era.
“He had a record — and you can look it up — it’s called ‘Do What You Do,’” he said. “It’s a record where he sounds exactly like Joe Budden. And maybe that’s who his influence was. One of his first records. Sounds exactly like old Joe Budden.”
Trixx said he was DJing at a club when Drake’s manager approached him carrying a burned CD and asked if he could give the aspiring rapper’s song a spin.
“His manager came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, man, I got this new artist.’ He gave me one of those little burnt CDs,” Trixx recalled. “And then he goes, ‘Hey, man, just see if you could play it.’ I was like, ‘All right, man.’”
Having heard similar pitches countless times as a working DJ, Trixx admitted he initially didn’t pay much attention to the request.
“As a DJ, I done heard this so many times,” he said. “I’m just like, ‘Yeah, man, whatever. I got you, man. I’ll play it.’”
Around 20 minutes later, however, Drake’s manager returned and became more persistent.
“He’s like, ‘Hey, man, come on, man. He’s right there. It’d be dope if you spin the record, man. What do we got to do?’”
That was when money entered the equation.
“I was like, ‘Listen, man, I’ll play it.’ This man [says], ‘I got $40 on me.’ I go, ‘You know, I don’t know how much I’m getting paid tonight. Give me the $40. I’ll take the $40.’”
The comedian said his attitude changed once he put on his headphones and realized he had actually heard — and liked — the song before.
“I remember I was cueing it up in the headphones. I had broken headphones, ghetto-ass headphones, and I’m cueing it up,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, I know this song. I would’ve played this for free. I know this record.’”
Rather than simply dropping the track into his set, Trixx decided to give the future superstar a memorable introduction.
“I get on the mic. I literally stop the record I’m playing,” he recalled. “I gave Drake the killer, the greatest intro. I hyped it up like it was a new JAY-Z record, and then I played the record.”
The crowd, however, wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.
“I literally see Drake and his boy watching everybody’s reaction,” Trixx said. “Everybody’s standing there like they don’t know the record. They’re like, ‘Okay, can we get back to the party, please?’”
Despite the muted reception, Trixx maintains that the track itself was strong.
“The song was dope,” he said. “Like I said, if you look it up, it’s called ‘Do What You Do.’ It’s an old record. He sounds like Joe Budden.”
Trixx said he and Drake remained cordial as the rapper’s career exploded, and he also recalled an example of just how much influence Drake eventually accumulated.
Years later, after Trixx had moved to Edmonton, he attended one of Drake’s concerts in the city and was placed in the VIP section through people he knew on the rapper’s team.
During the show, Drake took a moment to acknowledge several people from his hometown who were in attendance — including Trixx.
“Drake gets on the mic and he goes, ‘Yo, man, I want to shout out some of my people from Toronto in the building,’” Trixx recalled. “And he names — I’m one of the people he names.”
The shout-out immediately caused Trixx’s phone to light up with messages from people who had heard his name.
“My phone [was] going n**s,” he said.
But an even bigger surprise was waiting for him when he checked Twitter: a blue verification badge had suddenly appeared next to his account.
“I remember looking at Twitter and there’s a blue check mark beside my name,” Trixx said. “And I’m like — I look at my boy, I go, ‘Look at this right now. That was not there on the way to the concert, bro. That was not there. And now look at this.’”
According to Trixx, Drake had helped get him verified.
“He got me verified when I moved to Edmonton. He got me verified on Twitter. That’s how powerful he was,” he said.
For Trixx, the contrast between having Drake’s manager hand him $40 to persuade him to play a burned CD and later watching the rapper seemingly make a blue check appear underscores just how dramatically things changed.
“The power of Drake, man,” Trixx recalled his friend saying.
“Power of Drake, bro.”
