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Drake marks Toronto Raptors' NBA championship with 2 new tracks

Source: CBC News:
June 16, 2019 at 02:06
Drake reacts on stage in Toronto's Jurassic Park as the Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship on Thursday. Shortly after the Game 6 victory, the rapper announced two new songs and new album art. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Drake reacts on stage in Toronto's Jurassic Park as the Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship on Thursday. Shortly after the Game 6 victory, the rapper announced two new songs and new album art. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Omertà and Money In the Grave released Saturday, featuring rapper Rick Ross

Toronto Raptors superfan Drake has released two new songs to mark the NBA team's historic championship win.

The Canadian rapper, who is the basketball team's global ambassador, took to his Instagram account shortly after their Game 6 victory over the Golden State Warriors to reveal new album art, featuring the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.

On Saturday, he revealed the songs, called Omertà and Money In the Grave, featuring Mississippi rapper Rick Ross, are streaming on all platforms.
 


Parallel rise to the top

Neither of the new songs reference the Raptors or the historic win, with Omertà instead focusing on Drake's own rise to the top. 

"I was never on the path to get into Cambridge/I mean, I was good at doin' math, but I'm better with language," he raps.

But the Toronto-born musician's climb could also be seen as a parallel to that of the city's hard-working team. The Raptors clinched their first NBA championship Thursday in the 24th year of the franchise's existence.

"I wish that I was playin' in a sport where we were gettin' rings," Drake goes on to say in the track. "I wouldn't have space on either hand for anything."

Drake was in Toronto's Jurassic Park, the fan zone outside Scotiabank Arena, to watch a live feed of Game 6 from Oakland, Calif., along with thousands of people in the crowd.

After the game and sporting a Toronto Raptors championship hat, the artist explained on Instagram live why he hadn't gone to Oakland's Oracle Arena to cheer on the team during their final road games.

He said NBA organizers asked him "kindly not to attend for safety reasons and I obliged because I have respect for the league."

'Craziest bet'

Also while on Insta live, he referenced the "craziest bet in the world" made against Scamboy hip hop artist Guapdad 4000.

Guapdad 4000 later revealed in a series of text messages that the bet involved dressing up in a Raptor's costume if the team won and standing on the busy Bay Bridge which connects San Francisco to Oakland, Calif., holding a sign saying "Canada beat us."

Drake made one amendment to the wager: "But your sign has to say Kawhi and Drake beat the Bay."
 


Guapdad 4000 followed through on the challenge the day after the victory, posting the video on his Instagram page with the caption: "I'm a man of my word."

"Hahahahhaa best bet I ever won," Drake commented on the post Friday.
 

Toronto will celebrate the Raptors' monumental win with a victory parade on Monday.

With files from the Canadian Press


 
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