Rapper Drake has reportedly awarded Canadian Dollars (CAD 10,000) to the winner of a lookalike contest held in Toronto.
The contest, according to sources, was organized by Casuals Cakery on Saturday, December 14, to find the city’s best Drake lookalike.
Persons close to the event said the grand prize was initially meant to be a bottle of Hennessy and a pack of cigars, but Drake decided to make the package better when he caught wind of the event.
Organizers said a group of contestants were declared winners, meaning the prize money would be shared among the group.
The event was described as the latest celebrity lookalike contest to be held. It took off in October when a similar contest was held at Washington Square Park in Downtown Manhattan.
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Organizers of the first event reportedly incurred a fine for hosting it without a permit, attracting a crowd of around 900 people.
Drake was reported not present at the event in Toronto but shared some clips on his Instagram stories, which have now expired.
The Search and Rescue rapper has had a tough rap battle with Kendrick Lamar in the past month. Both rappers released some diss songs, with Kendrick emerging with a world-acclaimed hit song, Not Like Us.
Drake recently filed two legal actions against Universal Music Group in relation to Not Like Us, alleging that UMG “artificially inflated” streaming numbers for the song and involved undisclosed “pay-to-play” schemes.
He also claimed in another suit that UMG “knowingly” approved of Not Like Us being released despite Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics alleging that Drake is a “pedophile.”
About the suit on inflating streaming figures, Universal Music Group maintained that streaming numbers for Not Like Us represented the numerous fans worldwide who chose to listen to the song over and over again.
Describing the allegations as “offensive and untrue, UMD said it did not conspire with Spotify to “artificially” boost the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue…
“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear,” the company said in a statement to Billboard.
