"You can tell Abel does not fw him" — Internet reacts to The Weeknd hanging out with Drake backstage at the 2013 OVO Fest

Fans are back to analyzing the relationship between Drake and The Weeknd after the former dropped more content on his 100 Gigs website on August 25, 2024. The new update included audio and video footage from his 2013 Nothing Was The Same Era, including the OVO Fest held that same year.

In the 56-second clip from the OVO Fest, Drake was seen welcoming everybody in a room backstage. Fans noticed the Canadian rapper turned a cold shoulder towards The Weeknd, who was also in the room then.

Drake finally turned to acknowledge the singer towards the end of the clip, leading many to theorize whether the bad blood between the two brewed since 2013. One person tweeted:

Many agreed with this sentiment, adding that the vibes between the two had seemed off since 2013.

"The energy between Drake and The Weeknd is off here and this is 2013," one person tweeted.

"This when Drake stopped f**king with weekend for sure for sure lmao," another person added.

"Weekend got the vibes of someone’s little brother that their mom made them bring," someone else noted.

"The Weeknd was on the rise back then, and you could just tell he was going to be huge. Seeing this footage now is a reminder of how far he’s come. OVO Fest 2013 was iconic," another user commented.

Others criticized Drake for his behavior, calling him slimey and corny.

"Drake is so corny. I’m glad The Weeknd didn’t sign and ended up being as big as he is," one person wrote.

"Drake a slimey guy Peep how he cut the footage immediately he acknowledged the weekend and was about to dap him up," another person added.

"Oh so he ignored him after he used him for one of his best albums? Great, you been a snake," someone else commented.

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The feud between Drake and The Weeknd explored

Drake and The Weeknd were once collaborators who turned to foes, with the latter name-dropped multiple times in Drake's diss tracks in his recent rap battle with Kendrick Lamar. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was acquainted with Drake in 2010 after the latter introduced him to his fans.

The two Toronto-based artists also collaborated on Drake's song Crew Love from his 2011 album Take Care. In 2012, Drake expressed his interest in getting The Weeknd to sign a record deal with his record label OVO Sound. However, the singer decided to sign with Republic Record instead. This caused the first rift in their relationship.

In a 2015 interview with Roling Stone, The Weeknd claimed he wrote many songs in Drake's sophomore album Take Care. This came amid Drizzy facing ghostwriting allegations.

“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,” the singer said.

In 2017, the two made appearances at each other's shows. That same year, rumors emerged that Bella Hadid, who dated The Weeknd on and off between 2015 and 2019, was with Drake. This reportedly caused further strain in their relationship.

In 2024, The Weeknd was featured on several tracks in Future and Metro Boomin's albums We Don't Trust You and We Still Don't Trust You. The albums were filled with disses against Drake, including Show of Hands featuring A$AP Rocky and Like That featuring Kendrick Lamar. The latter track kickstarted the rap battle between Lamar and Drake.

Abel appeared in a song called All to Myself in We Still Don't Trust You, released in April. Many fans claimed the song was directed at Drizzy with the lyrics:

"Ooh, look at how we movin’, baby (Movin’, baby) / They could never diss my brothers, baby (Future) / When they got leaks in they operation / I thank God that I never signed my life away / And we never do the big talk (No, no, no, no, no) / They shooters makin’ TikToks /Got us laughin’ in the Lambo (Yeah) / I promise that I got your back."

Drake responded to the alleged diss in his tracks Push Ups and Family Matters, name-dropping the singer multiple times by his real name, Abel. In Family Matters, Drizzy directly responded to the diss, rapping:

"If Drake shooters doing TikToks, n***a/ Realest shooter in your gang, that's P's brother, y'all ain't getting shit shot, n***a/ Can't listen to the stick talk in falsetto, save it for a hip-hop n***a/ You don't even be at home, dog, you a souvenir-out-the-gift-shop n***a/ Still mad about that one h**, we ain't even f**k, I just lip-locked with her."

The last line supposedly referred to Drake and Bella Hadid's dating rumors in 2017.