The dancehall revival over the past few years is real, and one of the most prominent folks involved in that is Popcaan, the Jamaican musician who lent his talents to Drake’s “Controlla.” His two albums, 2014’s Where We Come From and this year’s Forever, were released via Mixpak Records, but it looks like that will not be true of whatever he has coming next.
Popcaan hosted the Unruly Fest in Jamaica this weekend, and making a surprise appearance there was Drake, who said that in 2019, Popcaan will officially be signed to OVO Sound. He can be heard saying in a fan-shot video, “I just want to let everybody know, finally, officially, 2019, Popcaan is signed to OVO.”
Drake announced tonight that in 2019 @PopcaanMusic will be officially signed to OVO. #UnrulyFest pic.twitter.com/VdPe4eG6C9
— Word On Road (@WordOnRd) December 23, 2018
One of Popcaan’s first major collaborations was with Snoop Dogg (then Snoop Lion) on the 2012 single “Lighters Up.” Since then, he’s worked with Pusha T, Wale, Jamie xx, Gorillaz, AlunaGeorge, and others. Drake co-founded OVO Sound with producer Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib in 2012, and the label has an intimate roster that includes Majid Jordan, PartyNextDoor, Dvsn, and others. OVO Sound doesn’t add new artists to its lineup often: Popcaan is the first new addition since Plaza and Baka Not Nice were signed to OVO in 2017.
