Drake’s Gyalchester certified gold in the UK
Ever since he featured dancehall artiste Mavado in his video — shot in Kingston and directed by Anthony Mandler — for the hit single Find Your Love in 2010, Canadian rapper Drake has never hidden his love for Jamaica and the island’s culture.
Gyalchester, the ninth track from his 2017 mixtape More Life, was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on Friday.
The certification commemorated sales and streaming to the equivalent of 400,000 units.
The song was produced by iBeatz.
Gyalchester, a popular term, is a portmanteau of the patois-spoken word for girl (“gyal”) merged with the name of the parish of Manchester.
The song did reasonably well on the charts, topping out at number 32 in the United Kingdom, number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Drake has collaborated on multiple occasions with Jamaican artistes. He has also sampled songs by Jamaican acts on his albums.
Too Good, a collaboration with Rihanna, features a sample from dancehall artiste Popcaan’s Love Yuh Bad.
Too Good, produced by Jamaican Dwayne “Supa Dups” Chin-Quee, rode the charts in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song has to date sold more than 6 million units globally.
The song 9, featured on Drake’s Views album, was produced by Jamaican Matthew “Boi-1da” Samuels. The track has a sample from Dying by Mavado and Serani.
Controlla, another Boi-1da production, features a sample from Beenie Man’s 1996 hit Tear off Mi Garment. The song, which has sold more than seven million units worldwide, made charts in Canada, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, and Belgium. It peaked at number five in the US R&B chart and number 16 on the Hot 100.
Two other dancehall-inspired songs by Drake were major hits, Work with Rihanna (32 million units globally) and One Dance featuring Kyla and Wizkid. Both did well on several charts globally.
Drake, who signed Popcaan to his OVO label in 2018, has collaborated with the dancehall artiste on multiple occasions.
All I Need and Twist and Turn, both of which are featured on Popcaan’s 2020 album Fixtape, are collaborations with Drake.
Popcaan’s recent Billboard-charting album, Great is He, features the hit single We Caa Done with Drake. The song charted on the Official UK Singles chart, the urban chart in Germany, as well as the Canadian Hot 100, and the US Rhythmic Top 40 songs chart.