How Rising Artist Qendresa Landed on Drake’s ‘HABIBTI’ & ‘MAID OF HONOUR’ Albums: ‘I’ve Always Been Inspired by Him’

A random Instagram DM changed Qendresa’s life. Born Qendresa Sopa, the Northwest London-bred R&B singer was out dancing at a beachfront party when she checked her phone and saw a message from Champagnepapi, Drake’s IG alias.

“I got the Champagnepapi DM when we were dancing,” she recalls of Drake using her “Tearz” song in an IG post last year. “I was like, ‘What the f–k? He just posted my song!'”

Drake dropped another hint at a potential collaboration when he posted the vinyl covers to Qendresa’s Midnight Request Line and Londra albums on his Instagram Story in February.

Qendresa later found out that producer Kid Masterpiece, who has worked extensively with the 6 God, put Drake onto her music. Kid Masterpiece would play the British-Kosovar singer’s music on SiriusXM’s OVO Sound channel.

With influences ranging from Sade to Frank Ocean, it’s not hard to see what drew Drake into Qendresa’s music. She blends a unique mix of ’90s R&B, funk, EDM and jazz for an atmospheric sound.

“‘Slap the City’ was the first thing he sent me,” Qendresa says of her HABIBTI collaboration with Drizzy, while speaking from her Brighton flat. “He made me laugh because he was like, ‘This one sounds like a bit of us.” I was like, “He’s f–king right.”

She continues: “[We] started sending each other unreleased stuff, stuff he was flirting [with] around ICEMAN or stuff from before. Same with me. I did a bunch of stuff and I really miss that time. I was working on my bits and I was getting Drake stuff.”

The woozy “Slap the City” debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 when Drake’s trifecta of albums toppled the charts following their May 15 releases. Qendresa also contributed vocals to HABIBTI‘s “Fortworth,” “Gen 5” and MAID OF HONOUR‘s “Stuck.” However, she didn’t sing the ad-libs on ICEMAN‘s “Ran to Atlanta,” which many on the internet have speculated.

The Drake stimulus boosted Qendresa from six figures to over six million monthly listeners on Spotify. She’ll look to parlay the momentum into more eyes and ears on her next project, which the singer’s currently working on.

Check out the rest of our interview with Qendresa, which touches on her Drake collaborations, early music influences and plans for the future, below.

What got you into music growing up and who did you listen to?

I grew up in the ’90s and 2000s. Around those times, there was really good music on the radio. It’s much different in the U.K. than America. You actually play hip-hop on the radio. I remember going to yoga in L.A. and they were playing Drake and Future. Here, it’s just pop. Back in the ’90s and 2000s, pop was good. There was a wide variety of different genres that were good, so you have Blink-182, Sade, Missy Elliott and I was a big Spice Girls fan. I saw a TikTok explaining that the Spice Girls debut album was West Coast inspired. At the time, I didn’t know. The beats are sick. They were a huge inspiration of mine. I love them a lot.

Growing up into my teens, I became obsessed with grime and Dizzy Rascal was a huge inspiration of mine and Wiley. In Northwest London, where I’m from, we had Flirta D. We had Channel u where local artists would post their videos and you get exposed to U.K. talent.

What led you into singing?

I always sang in school. My uncle got me into the Fugees quite young. I always loved “Killing Me Softly” and any talent show that was my go-to. I didn’t take it seriously. I didn’t have anyone in my family or around me that did it. We were working class kids. We don’t have examples of artists. Art is a rich people’s sport in a way, unless you get lucky and take the risk and invest all your s–t in that.

When I was young, I was performing in my mirror listening to Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey imagining I was them. I was visualizing and manifesting it, but a part of me didn’t think it was a possibility.

It’s just my manager and agent at the moment, all women. I never signed to a label. We’ve been grinding for the last two years. Before that, I was doing everything myself, from answering emails and booking gigs and uploading my s–t onto YouTube. Even the way I used Instagram before, I was such a hot mess. I got artist friends and we all kind of struggle with the Instagram thing. It’s too much pressure, we’d rather just be making music.

Fast forward to now, how did you link up with Drake for “Slap City.” I saw him post your albums on his Instagram Story. There was no contact with him before that?

No contact before that. The only thing we saw was Kid Masterpiece playing our stuff on OVO Sound. Further down the line, Drake told me that Kid Masterpiece put him onto my music. I’m still processing everything. He reached out and I was super shocked and grateful. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot in my life. Ever since he’s been dropping music, I’ve always been inspired by him and his writing and beats and artistry in general. It always gave me motivation, not even as an artist, but as a person to stay true to what I’m doing. This was about a year ago.

How did the recording process for ICEMAN start?

“Slap the City” was the first thing he sent me. He made me laugh because he was like, “This one sounds like a bit of us.” I was like, “He’s f–king right.” I did my thing on it and with these things you do your best and let it be. You want the best outcome for the project. If that means it’s going to make the album good, then that’s all I want for this whole thing and all I strive to do when collaborating.

Did he take ideas you had and mix you into “Fortworth,” “Gen 5” and “Stuck.”

I just added harmonies to those, they were already done.

Did you know he had three albums coming?

There wasn’t any talk about three albums, no. He dealt with everything himself. I was under the impression our managers would talk, so I gave his number to my manager and he dealt with my manager himself. He took things into his own hands and added a personal touch. It felt like we were part of this big thing. I just wanted to do the best I could to help somebody who’s been a huge part of our lives. I was shocked when we got the call for playback and it was four songs. I saw the livestream and it was mind-blowing, but before that we got the call for playback just the day before ICEMAN.

My first-ever producer, Hugo Mari, produced “Classic” on HABIBTI. We’ve had quite an emotional few weeks, because when we first started out we had zero followers and no money. We just had this vision, and we always wanted to work with Drake. 10 years later, for both of us to be included is crazy.

“Slap the City” debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. What did you think about that?

That’s blown my mind. The response in general for the ones I’m on, it’s funny because we have two different audiences. What ties us together is the stuff we make and love. That audience comes together for that. I got a good message from a fan making a reference when you meet a friend at the club and he knows the friend you’re with like, “What the hell? You guys know each other?” It’s a beautiful and unexpected thing. It’s a perfect friendship or amalgamation.

How has it been to have so many new fans? I call it the Drake stimulus. He spotlights an artist and they’re out of here to the moon.

I do feel that. My fans are usually quite like me. I’m not really posting on social media all the time. Seeing his fans come and showing support, I’m touched because things can go down all sorts of way on the internet. New artists don’t always get welcomed in nicely. Everyone’s come to my page quietly and respectfully. They took their shoes off at the door. I got great feedback from them on DMs and YouTube comments. They’re loving discovering my music. I got a message from Lil Yachty the other day, “It’s great he’s shining a light on what should’ve been discovered a long time ago.” They’re saying, “It’s about time you got your flowers.” [Yachty and I] have been meaning to link-up, he reached out to me a couple of years ago and we’ve been trying to figure something out.

What do you have coming up musically? You dropped “Rain in July/Be the One” in May. I didn’t know you were a producer as well.

I’ve got some bits coming out. I’ve got a single coming out that I wrote as a dedication to Mexico. I’ve been there three times now and I’m a bit obsessed. I was on my way to perform there and I wrote a song that’s coming. I’m working with Hugo Mari wrapping it up. I spent a lot of time in Mexico City. It’s like a 45 minute flight to this beach town. You don’t need to leave or do anything.

I’m now in my new flat and I got these crazy sea views. It’s not a fancy flat, I’m not there yet. I just needed some peace and quiet and this is perfect. That’s why I moved out of London. I’ve got loads of music. Everyday I’m doing something with music, whether it’s writing, making beats or finishing something. I’ve always got beats that are sent to me that I’ll work on. We’re fleshing out some projects.

“Rain in July” was a bit inspired by me trying to emulate an afro-swing vibe. There was a lot of Burna Boy when I made it four years ago. I was inspired by his melodies and the way he made me feel with his songs, so I tried to emulate that. “Be the One” is a burst of something that I don’t know.

Do you have plans for an album later this year?

Maybe I got three albums on the way, let’s see.