Though now confirmed to be part of Wizkid’s upcoming Sounds From The Other Side album, “Come Closer” was initially a leaked titled “Hush Up The Silence/Come Closer”. This made many doubt the originality of the single. Especially with how Drake’s verse listened like it was forced into the rhythm of the beat since his lyrics did not exactly fit Wizkid’s part. But this did not stop Wizkid from releasing an official single expected to feature on his coming album on streaming sites. However, Drake’s absence from the video revived talks of licensing differences between the two artists and talks that the song was a mere mash-up. Even in spite of Drake’s acknowledgment post for the single on his Instagram when the video was released.

The speculations of “Come Closer” being unoriginal looked to be confirmed after “My Chargie” leaked earlier this week. Popcaan features Drake on the leaked single and it listens more cohesively than “Come Closer” because both artists follow the same pseudo-romantic narrative throughout the song. Sarz’s beats is given a quicker tempo but Drake’s verse is unchanged though Wizkid’s annoying yet catchy melodies are painfully missed.

But before jumping to the conclusion that Wizkid lifted Drake’s verse from “My Chargie”, we need to acknowledge the fact that Popcaan’s might just be another version of “Come Closer”. Future’s “Move That Dope” features verses from Pharrell, Pusha T and Casino but Casino’s verse is excluded from the radio version of the song. OVO radio also classifying the Popcaan version as a remix and furthers the narrative that they are merely two different versions of the same song. Wizkid could have been exempted from Popcaan’s version for label differences between Wizkid’s RCA Records and Popcaan’s Mixpak Records. We have also seen claims that Popcaan’s verse is from an old song and “My Chargie” could just be the result of a really crafty producer’s work.

Popcaan and Drake clearly have a friendly relationship with Popcaan’s “Unruly” catchphrase being featured on several Drake songs but they are still yet to release an official single together after Popcaan’s verse on “Controlla” was reported replaced with Beenie Man. Drake might have a Popcaan feature in his future plans and Popcaan might just be looking to get a Wizkid feature but one thing we know for sure is that regardless of who the owns the original song, “Come Closer” listens better than “My Chargie”.

Listen to Popcaan and Drake’s “My Chargie” for yourself here

musicblog