Drake finally has a label home with Lil' Wayne’s Young Money Records.
 
MTV News reports that the deal is basically a joint venture between Young Money and Universal Republic. That latter will be distributing his debut album, Thank Me Later.
 
"Today is a definitely a comfortable day for me, having my team now that's been in place for a couple of years. It's just a great day," Drake said while on the set of the music video for “Best I Ever Had.” "It's something new, but it feels familiar."
 
The familiarity he’s talking about is that despite his new deal, he still wants to be seen as an independent artist, something his management strongly supports.
 
"Independent is a funny term," said Drake. "I can go independent, but you need distribution, period. You need somebody to distribute your record and you need that army that a label has to really push the record."
 
Thanks to this new deal he’s got that added push to go along with all the hype he built up with his mixtape, So Far Gone.
 
Drake is working on Thank Me Later, which should drop later this year. Hip-hop favorites like Kanye West and Jay-Z may be appearing on the album. Don’t be surprised if Weezy pops in to spit a few bars, too.
 
This summer you can catch him out on tour with Lil' Wayne, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy Tell’em for the Young Money Presents: America’s Most Wanted Music Festival.

-- Sonya Eskridge

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