While Drake‘s 2018 album Scorpion has a song dedicated to his mom, “Sandra’s Rose,” that many fans appreciate, one of the Toronto rapper’s collaborators recently revealed that fans can thank Ms. Sandra for another fan-favorite track from the album as well. In fact, “Talk Up,” Drake and Jay-Z’s fourth song together, may have had an entirely different beat if not for The Boy’s mother and a chance meeting with her neighbor — a neighbor who turned out to be none other than Memphis rap legend DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia.
Paul recounted the story on the latest episode of his podcast Mafia Radio while conversing with fellow rap pioneer MC Lyte. As he tells it, “I ended up moving into a condo, and when I moved into a condo I end up running into a neighbor of mine that was Drake’s mom. didn’t know who she was, she didn’t know who I was, but she was like ‘he’s such a nice guy.’ She asked the security who I was and then told Drake. Drake hit me on the DM like 3-4 in the morning, ‘Hey man, my mama told me she ran into you, a really nice guy named DJ Paul, but I need some beats.’ I sent him a beat, he ended up putting Jay-Z on it, and ten million copies later we got this.” He emphasized that last point by calling attention to the platinum plaque for Scorpion on the wall behind him.
Does Sandra Rose have a future as an A&R? Probably not, but if there’s any takeaway from the story it’s this: Being a nice person can pay off in unexpected ways… so be nice.
Watch the full interview above.