The Weeknd and his friends uploaded three songs on YouTube, which then found their way to Drake's manager, Oliver El-Khatib, who shared them on the OVO blog where they quickly gained momentum. The Weeknd told Rolling Stone, "Drake wasn't even f*cking with it at first. Oliver was the one vouching for me."
In 2011, Drake gave The Weeknd a big break when he featured a ton of his songs on his album, Take Care, which The Weeknd had originally written for his first album, House of Balloons.
Nowadays, The Weeknd refers to Drake as "my closest friend in the industry at that time" and thanks him for his success, adding, "I gave up almost half of my album. It's hard. I will always be thankful — if it wasn't for the light he shined on me, who knows where I'd be. And everything happens for a reason."
