{"id":953684,"date":"2026-10-31T23:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T23:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/953684\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T23:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T23:08:29","slug":"k-os-is-back-thanks-to-a-big-money-bet-by-drake-hes-kind-of-a-gambler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/953684\/","title":{"rendered":"K-os is back, thanks to a big-money bet by Drake: ‘He’s kind of a gambler’"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 More than 15 years after helping a young Drake find his footing in the industry, Canadian alt-rap trailblazer k-os is getting a little help from his old friend.<\/p>\n

The Toronto superstar has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into \u201cBLackneck,\u201d k-os\u2019s first studio album in 11 years, giving the rapper the resources to make the kind of ambitious record he says the music industry rarely finances anymore.<\/p>\n

But k-os doesn\u2019t view the gesture solely as a \u201cGod\u2019s Plan\u201d-worthy act of generosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you lend somebody money, you don\u2019t always do it in a charitable way. Sometimes you just wanna see what they\u2019re gonna do,\u201d the 54-year-old says at Toronto\u2019s Horseshoe Tavern.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s kind of a gambler, I think he\u2019s kinda like, \u2018Let\u2019s see what this guy does.\u2019 It\u2019s an experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drake is no stranger to big bets, having made headlines for wagering eye-popping sums on NBA games and boxing matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrake gambles all day every day on so many teams. I\u2019m just glad that I had a chance to put it into the music to make something that actually can have some impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arriving at the bar with an acoustic guitar in hand, k-os is giving psychedelic cowboy in a tan wide-brimmed hat, oversized white sunglasses and an embroidered Western jacket.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fitting look for \u201cBLackneck,\u201d a freewheeling joyride through hip-hop, country, rock and soul that recalls the anything-goes sound that made him one of Canada\u2019s most distinctive voices in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

The title, a play on \u201credneck,\u201d reflects the multi-Juno winner\u2019s upbringing in Whitby, Ont., and his determination to remember where he came from.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot trying to change yourself is basically what it means,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s remaining true to your roots despite the fact that most people in this music industry shape shift to what they\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the album was recorded at his parents\u2019 farm near Whitby, including sessions inside a 1984 camper van.<\/p>\n

K-os first met Drake in 2009, when the future rap juggernaut was beginning his ascent. The older rapper recalls offering him advice on navigating the Canadian music business.<\/p>\n

The two reconnected by chance at a Toronto bar during the pandemic, after not seeing each other for years. They exchanged numbers and eventually resumed contact over text.<\/p>\n

Drake asked to hear new material, and k-os obliged.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Wow, this is amazing. Clearly you\u2019re still good at this,’\u201d k-os recalls.<\/p>\n

After hearing more songs, Drake encouraged him to make a quintessential k-os record \u2014 and offered to bankroll it.<\/p>\n

The funding allowed him to experiment, hire top-tier musicians and go for elaborate arrangements.<\/p>\n

On the chest-thumping opener, \u201cStill Number One,\u201d he enlisted a string section and children\u2019s choir, while the guitar-driven \u201ci would never.\u201d was produced by Canadian rock heavyweight Bob Rock, whose credits include Metallica and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a record that I couldn\u2019t make in my basement,\u201d k-os says of the independently released album, which lists Drake as an executive producer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that makes good music is time. When you have time and you\u2019re not under the gun, you can experiment. And when you can experiment, you come up with crazy stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

K-os says record labels are increasingly reluctant to fund expensive albums, especially when an established artist already has a catalogue of hits to promote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor labels don\u2019t spend that money on music anymore,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much music coming out. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on one record doesn\u2019t make sense for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

K-os first emerged as an eccentric counterpoint to the bling-heavy hip-hop landscape of the early aughts, weaving acoustic guitars and soulful melodies into his introspective rhymes.<\/p>\n

His 2002 debut, \u201cExit,\u201d introduced his idiosyncratic sound, while 2004\u2019s \u201cJoyful Rebellion\u201d brought radio hits including \u201cCrabbuckit\u201d and \u201cMan I Used to Be.\u201d<\/p>\n

His willingness to both rap and sing expanded the possibilities for Canadian hip-hop artists, including Drake, with whom he toured the U.S. and recorded the songs \u201cFaith\u201d part one and two.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHotline Bling\u201d rapper has since acknowledged k-os\u2019s influence, though the older musician isn\u2019t particularly interested in dwelling on his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m actually scared of being recognized because then I\u2019m gonna, like, not be angry,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the music comes from an angst, kind of, that punk-rock thing of like, nobody knows who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

That underdog mentality runs throughout \u201cBLackneck,\u201d which took shape over several years as k-os quietly accumulated material while living in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

He says leaving Toronto freed him from the expectations that came with his earlier success.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you\u2019re known, you feel like you have to continue on from where you last left off,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you move away, you can kind of start new.\u201d<\/p>\n

On \u201cStill Number One,\u201d he takes aim at rappers whose obsession with maintaining success comes at the expense of creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will do anything to keep their position, where I feel like there\u2019s no real position to get because you\u2019re always going to make the best music from being an underdog,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a philosophy that has helped him make peace with fading from the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that people forget because you need that forgettery for you to be able to start,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need a clean slate to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per k-os, Drake was enthusiastic about the finished album.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved it,\u201d the rapper says, recalling a profanity-laced text expressing his surprise.<\/p>\n

For k-os, the greater reward was the freedom to make something that defies expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should be perplexed. When they hear good music, it\u2019s like seeing a good movie. It\u2019s like, what was that?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing it for that first listen, to transport people somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\"Add
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 More than 15 years after helping a young Drake find his footing in the industry, Canadian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[76,45,49,48,75,7607,341],"class_list":["post-953684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-arts","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-media","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}