Baka Not Nice

Baka Not Nice went from being an enforcer on Drake’s security team to becoming an OVO artist with a gold record. • The Toronto rapper has regularly contributed background vocals to Drake songs, including the platinum-certified “Free Smoke,” “Gyalchester,” and “From Time.” • Baka was hired by Drake as a bodyguard in the mid-2000s. In 2005, he’d won an appeal after being incarcerated since 1997 for attempted murder. • Two Baka songs—the hard-nosed “Whip” and bouncy “AKA”—were posted to SoundCloud in early 2016. Both were Murda Beatz–produced loosies. • Cowritten by Drake, Baka’s 2017 single “Live Up To My Name” reached 500,000 streams in a month. By early 2019, it was certified gold. • Baka performed “Gyalchester” alongside Drake in the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. Within a month, Drake confirmed Baka had signed to OVO in an Instagram post. • He included “Live Up To My Name” on his 2018 debut, 4Milli, which cracked the Top 100 in Canada. • In 2019, Baka and UK rapper Giggs’ collaboration “My Town” was included on the soundtrack for the British crime show Top Boy.