Drake and Ninja (that's streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins) made a big splash last month when they streamed a Fortnite session on Twitch, setting a new single-streamer record with more than 600,000 concurrent viewers at one point. Last night they did it again, and while they didn't attract the same number of viewers, Drake did say that he'll drop some Fortnite into his next album—if Epic hands over the bling first.
"It has to happen, it's just got to be the right way," Drake says, after Ninja tells him he has to "put some Fortnite lingo" into his next album. "Someone's going to do it. Someone's going to pull it off. I say when Epic gives me the emote—when Epic gives me the Hotline Bling emote—I'll do it. Until then, I'm on strike."
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A Hotline Bling emote is something that players have been calling for since Drake's first Fortnite appearance, and while Epic declined to comment on the matter when asked by Kotaku, I can't imagine that it would let this opportunity pass by. It's not like it hasn't been done previously—Bungie dropped a Hotline Bling emote (minus the name) into Destiny two years ago—nor is this some kind of underground campaign that hasn't been widely noticed. Fortnite is literally the biggest game in the world right now, and Drake is pretty well known in some circles too.
And he seems to be fully committed to the game. During the same session, Drake said he'd give Ninja $5000 if he could lead them to a Duos victory—which he did.
Drake would certainly be the biggest artist to incorporate Fortnite into his work, but he wouldn't be the first. Courtesy of our resident Fortnite Beatzmeister Jimmy the D, here are a couple of tracks to hold you over while we wait for Fortnite Bling:
