Drake is a self-proclaimed resident lover boy. His 2021 album "Certified Lover Boy" is one example of how the former Degrassi child star has spent the better part of a decade coaxing the public, his listeners and his biggest fans into thinking that he is a sensitive rapper who is soft. He is emotional and not afraid of crooning about love's failures, but most importantly, we can't forget all the villainous women who have broken his delicate, vulnerable bleeding heart (or all the harem of 23 women he married in his "Falling Back" music video).
In his eighth album "For All The Dogs," which was released on Oct. 6 and is his fourth consecutive album since 2021, the artist hits a career low in an exhausting diatribe against women ("Tried Our Best"). The album is aptly named for "the dogs" and or, as Drake means, for boys only — already alienating his large female listeners.
The Canadian rapper has always been synonymous with his more "sassy" or feminine-adjacent personality because of his comfortable online presence. I urge you to do a quick Google search of "BBL Drake" memes to understand this persona even further. A couple of years ago, the internet began theorizing that Drake had gotten the Brazilian Butt Lift surgery, as seen on the Kar-Jenner sisters. It snowballed and the ensuing memes feminized Drake. Some edits of Drake have long acrylic nails, hoop earrings and makeup.
Regardless of the "BBL Drake" memes, the rapper's soft personality was also cultivated through his angsty, pining emotions in his music from the classic Drake albums "Take Care," and "Nothing Was The Same." This lonely Drake, who was eternally heartbroken, was borderline endearing to the general public when the rap star was in his 20s. But as Drake nears 40, he just sounds like every other disgruntled and angry man on the internet, screaming into the void about how they have been wronged by a woman who didn't put up with their toxicity ("Slime You Out"). In his lead single for the album, the musician used a photo of Halle Berry being slimed at the Kids Choice Awards without her consent. The Oscar winner shared on her Instagram that he did not receive her permission and that she wished "these men out here would give women the respect we deserve." This is also the same man who collects the countless bras that are thrown on stage by his female fans during his recent tour at the grown age of 36.
Worst of all, in "For All The Dogs," Drake is perpetually stuck dating women in their early 20s. While the age gaps aren't inherently problematic if you look at legality, there have been whispers about Drake's dealings with underage girls (like Millie Bobby Brown from "Stranger Things" fame) and just-legal models (like Bella Harris). In one of the songs off the new album, he addresses the rumors, saying: “Weirdos in my comments talkin’ ‘bout some Millie Bobby, look/Bring them jokes up to the gang, we get to really flockin." But if you add in the fact that he is almost two decades older than both girls — and is one of the most visible rappers in the world with success and reach — the optics shift.
As much as Drake paints that he is a harmless and safe picture for women, perhaps especially younger women, because of his vulnerability, as we know that can be a tool of manipulation too. In the song "Calling for You" featuring friend and frequent collaborator 21 Savage, Drake raps: "She was twenty-one, I don't see a savage" and 21 Savage sings that he: "Put a college b***h in a Benz."
But if the mistreatment of young women isn't uncomfortable enough, in “Fear of Heights,” Drake aims his anger at ex-girlfriend and superstar pop queen Rihanna. The pair have had a tumultuous relationship, dating as far back as 2005 but the gist is that they straddled the more-than-friends line many times. Their relationship also resulted in two collaborations: "What's My Name" and "Work," alongside a plethora of sad, angry songs written by Drake about Rihanna. And in "For All The Dogs" the rapper doesn't let up dropping mentions about Rihanna's partner, rapper A$AP Rocky in "Another Late Night" and dissing her honorary Parsons School of Design degree in "Virginia Beach."
But in "Fear of Heights" the rapper is seemingly frustrated about the public fascination with their relationship. He spits that he's over her, but angrily throws misguided and lame daggers aimed at Rihanna. He even references her latest 2016 album "ANTI" and her song "Sex With Me."
"Why they make it sound like I'm still hung up on you?
That could never be
Gyal can't run me
Better him than me
Better it's not me
I'm anti, I'm anti
Yeah, and the sex was average with you
Yeah, I'm anti 'cause I had it with you."
Sounds like a woman he's over, right? Drake continues to highlight the women with whom he has unfounded grievances throughout the rest of the album, dissing women who seemingly don't want him back. He also blasts the women he dates because, well, he's not above that either. In “7969 Santa” he blames the age of a 25-year-old woman for their relationship faults. He harshly chides her for her lips and her looks:
"Damn, that's how you're dealin' with me, damn
Damn, that's how you're, that's how you're
Ayy, look, look
Who the f**k is that? It's a disguise
You ain't who I thought I recognized
Twenty thousand pound on your rent
B***h, I coulda spent that on the guys."
Not only does he diss women with whom he's been in relationships, but singer Esperanza Spalding catches a stray, too. Both of the musicians were up for Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammys and Spalding won when Drake was the favorite to win the category.
Drake calls her out by name in "Away From Home," rapping:
"Four Grammys to my name, a hundred nominations
Esperanza Spalding was gettin' all the praises
I'm tryna keep it humble, I'm tryna keep it gracious
Who give a f**k Michelle Obama put you on her playlist?
Then we never hear from you again like you was taken."
The singer exhausts all the avenues of misogyny in "For All The Dogs" and it has become his most critically panned album to date. Drake's music sounds more in line with the current culture so persistent in crucifying women for their mere existence or agency. It is in line with the growing number of single, lonely 20 to 30-something-year-old men who are chronically living their lives solely online, becoming disgruntled with the state of women's independence or demands for a higher standard of living.
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My biggest issue with someone like Drake is his ability to rewrite his soft boy misogyny into a weapon against women. He can call domestic violence survivor Megan Thee Stallion a liar and support a convicted abuser Tory Lanez, all while he continues to be called "one of the girls," for advocating for women against "men who never got p**sy in school makin’ laws about what women can do. I gotta protect ya."
It's drenched in a certain vile irony for which only soft boy misogyny can be the explanation, the kind of misogyny that aids and abets literal violence against Black women. I mean, look at his track record above — it's all Black women at the center of his thinly veiled disrespect. The lover boy persona that he has duped people into believing? It isn't real. It's just another fantasy used to make us feel like we have an ally in someone who has as much high-profile influence as Drake. It's always been an ephemeral illusion.
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