Drake in Talks with BlackBerry to Promote New Device

Drake has lent his star power to brands including Sprite and Nike, and now he’s reportedly in talks with BlackBerry to promote the company’s upcoming device.

According to TechCrunch, the Canadian manufacturer has called on the Toronto rapper to help launch the new BlackBerry Classic in November.

The device is described as a mashup of the current BlackBerry Q10 and the Bold 9900. It features BlackBerry OS 10 software, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, navigation keys, and an optical trackpad button.

Drake is apparently a dedicated Bold user (he’s been spotted using the 9900 recently) and has held off on upgrading to a new device because no BlackBerry that runs OS 10 has a physical trackpad.

As part of the promotion, BlackBerry will say that Drake was involved in the design process of the new smartphone.

However, TechCrunch notes that the deal is not finalized and could still fall through.

In 2013, BlackBerry enlisted Alicia Keys as their Global Creative Director to promote the BlackBerry 10 platform.