Now, I like Drake as much as the next person. The Canadian rapper is one of the most famous and influential celebrities in the world right now, and his impact can be measured just by his 75 million monthly Spotify listeners and 142 million Instagram followers. In my case, according to my “Stats for Spotify,” Drake is my 11th most listened-to artist of all time. Therefore, I was excited when he released his lead single for “For All the Dogs,” titled “Slime You Out” ft. SZA. The five-minute collaboration begins with Drake saying, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you girls,” and I immediately paused the song. At surface level, this lyric doesn’t seem problematic but I still felt uneasy.
Drake has a history of blatant misogyny and disrespect to women, specifically Black women. Last fall, the rapper released his album, “Her Loss,” on which he amassed an incredible amount of attention for one lyric seemingly directed towards Meghan Thee Stallion. On the track, “Circo Loco,” he raps “This b—h lie ‘bout gettin’ shots, but she still a stallion/She don’t even get the joke but she still smiling,” making a joke of Stallion’s traumatic experience when Tory Lanez shot her in the foot. In Drake’s eye, Stallion’s experience was invalid, demonstrated by his silence after she angrily responded to his mention of her via twitter. Drake undermined her legitimacy from fans, her peers, and in the courtroom, as well as capitalized on existing misogynoir to generate buzz around a cheap joke.
Drake also has a history of maintaining friendships with teenage girls, most notably Millie Bobby Brown and Billie Eilish in the past, who were 14 and 17 respectively. Considering the rapper has a fascination with referring to women as “girls,” these relationships may raise a few eyebrows, as Drake may have realized (the same way a certain DiCaprio has), it’s more difficult to exercise emotional power over grown women. He fails to demean and infantilize grown women, like Meghan, as they’re more likely to stand up for themselves, so instead may target those who are younger, and generally more naive. On top of all this, he signed a known human trafficker to his label, and described Rihanna’s abuse from Chris Brown as “childish s–t” — and that’s before you even address his casual misogyny in his lyrics.
Therefore, at the surface, a lyric like “I don’t know what’s wrong with you girls” may seem without malice, however, it becomes incredibly problematic in context. As a listener, my gut reaction is that there’s nothing wrong with Meghan Thee Stallion, or Billie Eilish, Millie Bobby Brown, and Rihanna. As an empath, I shudder to imagine if the topic of his lyrics was my sister, or one of my friends. Furthermore, Drake, as a male public figure, has a significant influence on male culture, and his reach extends far beyond the music industry. When his fans observe his actions, words, music, and persona, they start imitating what they deem “cool,” such as the degrading language and demeanor. When Drake makes public comments, like how he’d love to “make [Serena Williams] sweat,” his listeners may then feel emboldened to throw themselves onto people they find attractive, paying no mind to boundaries.
Drake’s behavior completely undermines any signs of decent humanity he’s displayed in the past. For example, his feminist self-diagnosis in “On BS,” albeit presented trashy and half-hearted, becomes complete hypocrisy when he’s prancing around Earth treating women as if they owe him something. As if he can do no wrong, and for any woman who goes against him, it’s Her Loss.
And to those who disagree and believe I’m being too critical, I have a genuine question for you. At the very least, what would Drake, or any other artist, lose if they veered away from misogynistic lyrics? Why is the degrading of women so essential to the music, or his lifestyle for that matter?
Drake is just one, albeit fitting, example of blatant misogyny in the public eye. An example comes in many different shapes, sizes, and context. Drake can deviate, and choose to be a better example for his fans and men in the world. But I have a feeling, “If [he’s ever] Reading This, It’s Too Late.”
