June 18, 2009

Drake Video 'Best I Ever Had' Given Fresh Take By Director Kanye West

By Jayson Rodriguez (MTV.com)

Drake recently spoke to MTV News about filming a video for his breakout track, "Best I Ever Had," and the Canadian MC was set on having a strong visual that matched his female fans' passion for the song. "I want women to feel special when they watch the visual and say, 'I wish that was me,' or 'I know that feeling.' " he explained.

But after a late-night recording session with West, things quickly changed.

"At first for this video, I was taking myself way too serious and trying to do some, like, epic sort-of-intimate video ... that would have been cool, but the song is too fun for that," Drake told us on the Brooklyn video set. "So when we were in the studio one night - me, Kanye and Big Sean - we were actually recording a song. And 'Ye ... it oozes out of him, creativity ... he was just being creative Kanye, like, spewing out ideas, and the day after, I texted my manager - we have the same manager - and was like, 'Yo, Kanye's idea was actually the best out of all of them, see if he'll do the video.'

"I don't know if at that point he knew he was gonna be directing the video," he continued. "It was more an idea like, 'It'll be funny if we do this.' Then it turned into 'Let's do this.' "

The Kanye-directed clip is a decidedly lighter take on things.

The video was filmed Sunday at a high school basketball gym where Drake's collection of "bests" manifests as the roster of a basketball team.

"Some of us younger men, we refer to our affiliation with women like a roster," Drake said, explaining the concept. "You have key women in your life when you're single and doing your thing."

But Team Drake faces some stiff competition in the clip - the opposing females aren't so smitten with the rising rap star. Despite the humor in the theme, Drake said the film will be shot to make it have a Basketball Diaries-like feel. There's no Degrassi hook to the clip, even though a young Drake played a high school basketball player in the teen series.