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\n\tDrake<\/a> inducted his \u201cdear friend\u201d Nelly Furtado<\/a> into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at last night\u2019s Juno Awards (March 29), delivering a kind, thoughtful, and poignant tribute that, nevertheless, in classic Drake fashion, still contained a few of the rapper\u2019s own age-old grievances (and a plug for his next album<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn a video message, Drake spoke sincerely about how much Furtado had inspired him. At one point, he said to the singer-songwriter: \u201cYou were our North Star. The proof that it was possible. The Portuguese princess who could go from spitting 16s with Swollen Members to dropping \u2018Maneater\u2019 and \u2018Promiscuous\u2019 with Timbaland. There were no ceilings, there were no walls, there were no boundaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tTo his credit, the vast majority of Drake\u2019s speech struck this tone. He spoke about looking in awe at Furtado\u2019s myriad plaques on the wall of her manager\u2019s office as he was plotting how to make the jump from teen soap actor to rap star. He referenced their performance together at a 2022 OVO show<\/a>. And he praised Furtado\u2019s resilience in a male-dominated industry, and the respect she engendered among her male peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRappers that I idolized, guys like K-os and Saukrates, would tell me not only how good your bars were, and how gifted you were in the studio. But they would always rave about how strong and solid your character was,\u201d Drake said, as the camera cut to Furtado, wiping a tear from her eye.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0And yet \u2026 as Drake finished his speech, he couldn\u2019t help but extend a few snarky words to the Junos (who exist under the same organizational umbrellas as the Canadian Music Hall of Fame) over an awards show snub that happened all the way back in 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n