Celebs Who Can't Stand Drake
Wheelchair Jimmy has gone further than any Degrassi: The Next Generation fan ever dared anticipate. Since hitting the mainstream music scene in 2009, Aubrey "Drake" Graham has racked up several Grammy Awards, Billboard-charting singles, major endorsement deals, and a million-dollar fortune. He's helped transform the sound of mainstream hip hop, ignited global dance crazes, broken records held by the world's biggest stars such as The Beatles and Taylor Swift — and a heck of a lot more.
So it shouldn't be surprising that Drake has attracted some haters over the years. Even the singer, songwriter, and rapper knows it, as he once rapped on the 2015 song "Energy": "I got enemies, got a lotta enemies / Got a lotta people tryna drain me of my energy." Unfortunately, the list has gotten even longer in the years since that song came out. Join us as we explore some of the celebrities who can't stand the 6 God.
Alexa, play 'Man Down'
Rihanna and Drake may have a history of romance and viral hits, but RiRi made it crystal clear in a 2018 interview with Vogue that those days are over. While chatting about Drake's (awkward) profession of love for her at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, Rihanna revealed that she was turned off by the moment, wincing at the mere mention of it.
"The VMAs is such a fan-focused awards show, so having that energy around me, and knowing the people who had received the award in the past, made it feel like a big deal," she told the publication. "Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don't like too many compliments; I don't like to be put on blast."
While she admitted that they aren't enemies, she seemed to imply that he isn't at the top of her BFF list, either. She added, "We don't have a friendship now, but we're not enemies either. It is what it is."
Those comments apparently had Drake in his feelings because he reportedly went on to unfollow Rihanna on Instagram, per Us Weekly.
Tyga wouldn't save Drake if he was drowning
While visiting Los Angeles radio station Power 106 in 2013, Tyga was asked a rhetorical question regarding his YMCMB family: If Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj were drowning, who would he save? It was too hard for Tyga to choose, so he asked if the options could be Minaj and Drake. In that case, he said he would hands down choose Minaj. When it came down to saving Lil Wayne or Drake, Tyga said he would "definitely" choose the former. While he maintained that he didn't "hate" Drake, he sang a totally different tune in an interview with Vibe the following year.
"I don't really get along with Drake," he told the outlet. While he admitted that he enjoys Drake's music, he expressed that he doesn't "like Drake as a person." Tyga continued, "He's just fake to me ... We were forced together [in YMCMB] and it was kinda like we were forcing relationships together."
In response to the comments, Drake took a shot at Tyga on the song "6pm in New York" from his 2015 mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late, using Tyga's relationship with a then-teenaged Kylie Jenner as ammunition. "I heard a lil lil homie talking reckless in Vibe/Quite a platform you chose, you shoulda kept it inside/Oh you tried, it's so childish calling my name on the world stage/You need to act your age and not your girl's age," he rapped (via CapitalXtra).
XXXTentacion was ready to box
Does Drake's song "KMT" from the 2017 playlist More Life sound familiar to you? The late rapper XXXTentacion once declared in a now-deleted Twitter tirade that the song uses his flow from his breakout single "Look At Me."
"I'm not the first n**** he bit, nor will i be the last," he tweeted (via HipHopDX), before adding, "I'm not gonna twitter rap with n***** for stealing my flow, I slap n***** don't come to Florida."
X, who was a rising star at the time, elaborated on the issue in a March 2017 interview with Miami radio station 103.5 The Beat. According to him, Drake expressed an interest in him prior to "KMT" and said he would be reaching out to his team, but the communication never took place. Instead, X said, Drake ran off with his rap pattern. "He's not a man. I think he's a b**ch. That's a b**ch move," he told the host.
For his part, Drake denied biting X's style in an interview with DJ Semtex on OVO Radio. While he admitted that he could "see where people could draw [a] comparison," he's not dumb enough to steal from anyone, especially at this point in his career. He added, "I'm not a s**t person like that."
X really gon' give it to ya
Put a microphone in front of DMX and he's bound to say something wild. That's exactly what happened during a 2012 RapFix Live interview. While voicing his displeasure with the wave of rappers at the time, the "Party Up" rapper quickly brought up Drake, whom he compared to a washing machine. "He has talent, but it's kinda redundant, it's kinda the same all the time to me personally. It's an annoying sound," he said before making a whirring noise, per MTV News.
He then elaborated on his issue with Drake, explaining that he didn't like how the "Hotline Bling" rapper was reportedly taking control over a posthumous Aaliyah album without collaborating with those who worked with the late singer, such as Missy Elliott and Timbaland. DMX, who frequently collaborated with Aaliyah in both music and film before her untimely death in 2001, proceeded to slam Drake's appearance on the album's first single, "Enough Said."
"How do you disregard what [Aaliyah] did? What this beautiful angel did and say, 'Oh OK, I'm gonna take it for myself because I'm hot right now and I'm feelin' myself,'" he asked rhetorically. "How do you just go there with it? Your b***s ain't that big, son."
Drake ended up dropping the project, although he didn't say exactly why. "I think the press got out of hand — they maybe had a different vision for it," he told interviewer Elliot Wilson. "It was great. It sounded really good
Soulja Boy demands credit
Soulja Boy has had some wild moments over the years, but nothing tops his 2019 interview with The Breakfast Club. During the wide-ranging interview, Soulja opened up about his supposed influence on Drake, yelling into a microphone that he's responsible for the artist the "Headlines" rapper is today.
"Stop playin' with me like I ain't teach Drake everything he knows. Y'all ain't hear Drake on his first song ["Miss Me"]? That's Soulja," he yelled at the hosts, seemingly drawing a comparison between the 2010 single and his 2007 song "What's Hannenin" (via Essence). The rapper continued, "That's my bar! He copied my whole f***in' flow! ... Don't act like I didn't make Drake, n***a. Don't do that!"
For what it's worth, Essence reported that the Internet definitely sided with Soulja Boy, but it's still pretty wild for him to take credit for Drake's entire career in such a way. It seems almost certain that Drake would've found his stride with one of the other acclaimed singles he went on to release.
Drake apparently isn't original enough for Pusha T
Where to begin. Pusha T and Drake have traded barbs since at least 2011, snubbing each other in music and during concerts (via Bustle). The beef peaked in 2018, though, when Pusha called out Drake for allegedly using a ghostwriter on the DAYTONA track "Infrared." In response, Drake dropped "Duppy Freestyle," in which he took aim at Pusha's age, career, wealth, and more, and even name-dropped his lady, Virginia Williams.
Pusha, as expected, wasn't so happy about that. Responding to Drake with "The Story Of Adidon," Pusha went as low as you can imagine, accusing Drake of "hiding" a child he'd fathered with adult actress Sophie Brussaux (which later turned out to be true), attacking Drake's producer Noah "40" Shebib and criticizing his family.
Instead of escalating the feud even further, which Drake said on HBO's The Shop that he was ready to do, he shelved his response track to "The Story Of Adidon," citing his desire to rise above and move on from the whole thing. Granted, he did basically admit defeat, but only because Pusha T crossed a line he wasn't willing to cross. "The song, I thought it was trash, but the chess move was genius," Drake confessed, adding, "Back against the wall, I either go all the way filthy or I fall back, and I have this, sort of, chink in my armor for the rest of time. ... I can live with that."
Come at Kid Cudi, bro!
In September 2016, Kid Cudi went on a Twitter rant about "haters within the industry," in which he called out both Drake and Kanye West. "These n***** don't give a f**k about me ... I've been loyal to those who haven't been to me and that ends now. Now I'm your threat," he tweeted (via NME).
Shortly after, Cudi checked himself into rehab for "depression and suicidal urges" — a moment Drake appeared to mock in a song called, "Two Birds, One Stone," released in October 2016. "You were the man on the moon / Now you just go through your phases / Life of the angry and famous," he rapped in the song (via NME). In response, the Pursuit of Happiness rapper challenged Drake on Twitter to say it to his face, seemingly referring to the lyrics. "You think it's a game. I wanna see you say it to my face. I'll be out soon. Promise."
After Cudi got out of rehab, he and West went on to make amends, but it doesn't look like Drake has been so lucky.
Lily Allen want's Drake's feminist flag to fly a bit higher
Drake's 2017 playlist More Life received overwhelming feedback upon its release. While many people praised the project, which Pitchfork wrote highlighted "his ear for melodies, his sophisticated tastes, [and] his curation skills," others had more negative things to say. Singer and songwriter Lily Allen was among the latter, taking aim at Drake for not enlisting more female artists on his projects. "22 songs and 1 female feature," Allen tweeted, adding, "Still sad."
The tweet backfired, with some critics accusing Allen of "trying to police black art and dictate how black artists should create their own music," according to The Boombox. Others called her a hypocrite for not using more male features, and slammed her for appropriating black culture while failing to collaborate with black artists. In the end, Allen tweeted a quasi-apology, writing, "I learned a lot from this episode, and continue to educate myself where intersectionality is concerned."
Nicki Minaj went bad on Drake
Is anyone really surprised? The Young Money labelmates have had an off-on relationship forever. While they tend to make amends, it seems like their friendship may officially be donezo, as of this writing. And it's seemingly all because of Meek Mill.
Minaj and Drake's friendship stalled in 2015, when Drake began beefing with Meek, who was dating the Queen rapper at the time. While Minaj vowed not to choose sides, she found herself at the center of the drama when Drake implied on "Back To Back" that she was more popular than Meek. Real classy, dude.
The tension seemingly began to dissipate once Nicki and Meek called it quits, with the "Barbie Dreams" rapper even comparing herself and Drake to "an old married couple" in a 2018 interview with Zane Lowe. But when Drake became friendly with her ex, who had publicly shaded Minaj after their split, the rapper appeared to wipe her hands of Drake.
According to CapitalXtra, Minaj and Drake first unfollowed each other on social media. Then in 2019, Minaj released a freestyle called "Barbie Goin Bad," a remix of a song Drake and Meek put out the previous year, in which she seemed to shade the pair, rapping (via Metro), "Old boy and my brother tried to end me dog." Oh well. Maybe one day they'll make amends as Drake and Meek have.
Kanye West tag teamed Drake with Kim K
Kanye West loves him some Kim Kardashian, so of course he didn't appreciate the fact that Drake in 2018 appeared to do nothing to kill rumors that he and Kardashian had a relationship. "The fact that people are making rumors that you f**ked my wife and you not saying nothing and you carrying it like that, that don't sit well with my spirit," he said in a video posted online that September (via Billboard). West also had an issue that Drake didn't dispel rumors that Kardashian, whose family nickname is Kiki, is the Kiki he sings about in the 2018 song "In My Feelings."
"You know if I had a girlfriend from Chicago, her name was Ranita and then you was married to Rihanna, I wouldn't make no song called RiRi," West continued. "Don't make no record with nothing that could be confused."
Kardashian got in on the drama herself. In a comment on The Shade Room, she wrote, "Never happened. End of Story."
But that unfortunately wasn't the end of the drama. In December 2018, West tweeted that Drake "threatened the safety of [him] and [his] family." Echoing the comment, Kardashian tweeted, "Never threaten my husband or our family. He paved the way for there to be a Drake."
Drake didn't respond to those comments and, considering how fiery they are, we can't say we blame him.