Akon Says He Didn't Sign Drake Because He Sounded Like Eminem

Akon is a successful record executive, but there’s one major superstar he could have had under his belt.

During an interview with VladTV, Akon admitted he passed on a younger Drake pre-So Far Gone days. As Akon explained, Drake was brought to his attention by Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishal who gave him the star’s demo work, but upon hearing his music, he didn’t believe Drake has his own sound.

“At the time, believe it or not, Drake sounded more like Eminem,” Akon told DJ Vlad. “That’s every artists’ development. You can see the difference between that demo and ‘Best I Ever Had.’”

Following the success of So Far Gone and the single “Best I Ever Had,” Drake’s price went up and the demand to sign the star had increased as well.

“That’s when Kardi was like ‘N***a, I told you this n***a was going to be the shit,’” he continued. “I said, ‘Well, reach out.’ He said, ‘You can but the lowest bid right not is a million.’”

Despite missing out on Drake, Akon admired his musical prowess and the many accomplishments the OVO star has had as an artist thus far.

“Out of all the artists today, to me, [Drake] is worth every single fucking penny,” Akon said to DJ Vlad. “Every single penny. That motherfucker’s a genius, bro. It’s revolutionary what he’s done.”