PARTYNEXTDOOR Talks 'Work,' Kehlani, & Drake in Rare Interview
PARTYNEXTDOOR is opening up.
The OVO singer is notoriously media shy, but he recently sat down with Rolling Stone for a candid interview, in which he addresses his successful, but chaotic year — from writing Rihanna’s Drake-assisted smash “Work” to the Kehlani romance that involved her reported suicide attempt.
“This year wasn’t a party for me, as ironic as that is,” he explained. “The best and worst things happened at once.”
Read more of PARTY’s best and worst moments in highlights from the Q&A below.
On being unhappy: “It was a blue year for me. I thought, ‘Write a hit, you’ll be rich and happy.’ Meet one of the most beautiful girls in the world, one of the most talented, and I’ll be happy. All of that: I’m not happy.”
On Kehlani controversy: “I regret how it went down. Big time I regret how it went down. I look into people’s eyes, and I know they think I’m a bad guy. There’s a lot of details that people don’t know.”
On OVO Sound: “I could go to a label where they don’t know how to handle me and they don’t care. Or I’ll have a mentor who’s been through it, who knows exactly what I want to mean to my city and what I want to achieve. They know how to handle your emotions. I’ll have freedom and guidance.”
On “Wednesday Night Interlude”: “I was involved with [If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late]; Drake asked for that song. I said, ‘Are you gonna cut it?’ ‘No.’ He just put it on there. I don’t think people do that. I love the fact that he put it on there and people heard it. And I still, to this day, wish I kept that song for my album.”
On “Work”: “People think that’s a party song. It’s a breakup song. It’s blues. I went from braggadocious to blues.”
On “Work’s” success: “It doesn’t make me happy. I’m looking for joy. It’s a moment for Rihanna and Drake. I want to invest time in creating moments for myself.”
On P3: “Really pretty people like my music and social media likes really pretty people. This album is blues — it may push away the pretty people.”