Hip hop heavyweight Drake and Real Husband’s of Hollywood star Kevin Hart have both been tapped by Vibe to cover their January 2014 “Race Issue” which features dual covers. The guys talk about their views on racism in today’s society as well as some lighter subjects. Peep the snaps and excerpts below.

You brought [Kanye West] out as a surprise guest at OVO Fest in Toronto in August. He said you’re the reason that he and Jay Z made Watch the Throne, because you were bringing the pressure. Have you had a conversation with him since?

We talk a lot. We talk about potential things, working on stuff together. It’s just so interesting to go from OVO Fest to now, being the two tours that are on the road in America. We’re kinda back on the same—What’s he gonna do? ’Cause I know what I’m gonna do. It’s like that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson documentary of them reflecting on everything years later. Me and him might be able to do one of those one day, a crazy sit-down together in suits and just be old, like, “This how I really felt.” He’s, like, the best. What an era to be a part of. I wouldn’t want my competition to be anybody else. My competition is nobody else, by the way. It’s just me and ‘Ye. I still have work to do but that’s what it is right now.

 You don’t make race the nucleus of your routine. Why?

No, I don’t need to. I get that racism exists, but it’s not a catalyst for my content. I don’t need to talk about race to have material. My style of comedy is more self-deprecating. I think that makes me more relatable. When you deal with “topics”—race, white versus black—you’re not separating from the pack. You’re doing what everybody else is doing. It’s easy to take those subjects and make them personal. You show more depth when that’s not your shtick.