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Drake at the Toronto Raptors versus Oklahoma City Thunder game at Scotiabank Arena on December 5, 2024 in Toronto. (Photo: Andrew Lahodynskyj/Getty Images)
It has been a difficult period for Drake since the Kendrick Lamar lyric heard ‘round the world: “When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches.” It was the diss on a double-layered cake of disses. On an era-defining run of a handful of songs, Lamar both confirmed every rumor you’d ever heard about Drake, and collected every serious (and sometimes unserious) critique into a series of brutal wallops. Drake is a pedophile, Drake is a culture vulture, Drake is soft, Drake is corny, Drake fell off. In response, the Canadian rapper tried unsuccessfully to sue himself out of the generational rap beef; now, with a trio of album releases on Friday morning, he’s decided to rap his way out.
You’re not going to believe this, but in the triptych of “Iceman,” “Maid of Honour,” and “Habibti,” there are Drake songs about his reluctance to trust a woman. There are Drake songs about disloyal friends and attention-chasing women. There are Drake songs about not trusting a woman but wanting to be in a long-distance relationship with her anyway. There are Drake songs about not trusting a woman because she wants a transactional relationship, and there are other Drake songs about wanting transactional relationships. There are Drake songs that offer women designer liquors and designer bags, and there are songs that resent women for wanting designer liquors and designer bags. There are several songs that play like confessionals — the kind befitting a gossipy reality TV show, not the Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation. These are messages of retribution rather than requests for forgiveness. There are several Drake songs about a persistent, all-consuming loneliness that can only be filled by a woman who wants nothing and requires nothing and has no needs or tastes or desires or qualities despite loving Drake and having a “real” body. (Rapping that with abs from outpatient ab-etching is crazy.) Anyway: Do you know where Drake could meet a good woman?
