The Moment Drake and 21 Savage Knew ‘Her Loss’ Was Good
Hit-making rappers Drake and 21 Savage linked up in 2022 for the collaborative album Her Loss. The album contained songs that made a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 chart such as “Rich Flex” and “On BS.” But Her Loss‘ success doesn’t come as a surprise to the rappers; in fact, they knew when they were making it that it was going to be a smash.
Drake and 21 Savage released ‘Her Loss’ in November 2022
Drake and 21 Savage first showed their power as a duo in the summer of 2022 when they teamed up for the song “Jimmy Cooks” from Drake’s seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The music video for “Jimmy Cooks,” released several months later, announced the impending release of a new collaborative album titled Her Loss. The album debuted at No. 1 and had fans in a frenzy; at the same time, some of Drake’s lyrics stirred up controversy, as he implied that Megan Thee Stallion lied about being shot by Tory Lanez or calling Serena Williams’ husband a “groupie.”
The moment they knew ‘Her Loss’ would be good
In a December 2022 interview, Drake looked back at Her Loss and recounted how he and 21 played the album at a party before it came out and made eye contact across the room as the crowd was enjoying the new music; to him, that’s when Drake knew that he and 21 had done something special together. 21 Savage reflected on Her Loss‘ impact in a January 2023 interview with Complex and agreed that that was the moment they realized they had created something great.
“That was probably my favorite memory too,” he said of the party in question. “With my music, I don’t listen to it. I record it, and if I like it, I know it’s going on the album, but I don’t overly drive around to my music because I will stop liking it. I learned from the past when I was younger, I’d make some hard s***, like ‘Bank Account.’ I rode around to ‘Bank Account’ for two weeks straight and I stopped liking the song. So when Issa Album came out, I didn’t think ‘Bank Account’ was going to do s*** because I stopped liking it. So now I don’t overly listen to my s*** before it comes out.”
He went on to describe how he and Drake were able to put together the album by recording one verse at a time.
“With Her Loss, I would just do my verses, send them to Drake, and then I wouldn’t listen to them again. He would send it back with his verses, I’d listen to it once, and then never listen to it again. So when we were in the club, that was my first time hearing it cohesively as a project,” he said. “Hearing it all the way through in the club, I was just like, ‘Damn, this s*** hard as f***.’ I ain’t heard a project like this in a long time, honestly, probably since [Lil Baby’s 2020 album] My Turn. This is like a real album you can ride to from top to bottom, that’s what I was thinking in the club. I just remember feeling proud of him because he put it together the right way, from the tracklist and everything.”
Drake said he and 21 Savage are going on tour in 2023
In January 2023, Drake performed at the iconic Apollo Theater in New York City for two special shows that had previously been postponed. 21 Savage joined Drake on stage to perform some songs from Her Loss, and Drake revealed that he and 21 might have some big plans in the works for 2023.
“We’re gonna be out on the road this summer,” Drake said, according to Variety. The two never went on tour in support of Her Loss, and Drake has toured with other artists such as Future in the past, so it wouldn’t be entirely new territory for Drake.
