This past Wednesday Drake took to Instagram to explain the thought process behind taking a picture in blackface. If you have been away from all social media platforms for the last couple of days, Drake and Pusha T has shook the world of Hip Hop in the name of Battle Rap. Any fan of hip hop can appreciate a good rap battle between great MC’s, but this rap battle has escalated to a magnitude I don’t think anyone was ready for.
The picture in question, along with almost all of the content in Pusha T’s “Life of Adidon” has left the world of hip hop with a number of questions, and as of now, only two have been answered. Life of Adidon’s cover is Drake not only wearing a Jim Crow shirt which the characters are in blackface, but Drake himself is also in blackface on the photo. Was this a REAL photo of Drake? What was the thought process behind this seemingly distasteful and disrespectful photo? Two questions Drake did in fact address.
Drake issued a very lengthy statement via his Instagram story clarifying that the picture was indeed a real, unedited photo of himself. He states that the picture “was from 2007 in a time in my life where I was an actor and working on a project about young actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped, and type cast.” He went on to state that himself and best friend from Sudan were “using their voices to bring awareness to the issues black actors dealt with all the time at auditions.” The thought process does sound very noble to want to keep awareness up in the name of equality but ultimately a lot of people feel that Drake could have used his voice in other ways as well. Coming from someone who struggled in his lifetime to be accepted by the black community as well as the white community due to his race, which is bi-racial, you would think a little more sensitivity to the culture would have been at the forefront of this idea. Nevertheless, we can appreciate Drake shedding light on this particular situation and not just sitting quietly about it.
As for all the other questions in the atmosphere surrounding Life of Adidon, we will have to impatiently wait on Drake’s response to a secret child to a ex porn star, rolling stone of a father, and insecurities of his own identity to just name a few questions that were raised after listening to the very scathing diss track by Pusha T.
I have a feeling this is only the beginning between these two and the world of hip hop is ALL THE WAY HERE FOR IT!
