Drake Speaks Out About The Blackface Photo Going Around The Internet

In case you missed it, this week has been pretty wild in the rap industry.
Rappers Drake and Pusha T have been going head-to-head in diss tracks, throwing savage punch after punch at each other. It all started when Pusha T released his new album, DAYTONA, which includes a song “Infrared,” that calls Drake out for using ghostwriters. In return, Drake released “Duppy Freestyle,” cracking down on Pusha T and his album’s producer, Kanye West.

Inevitably, Pusha came back with a diss track of his own, “The Story of Adidon,” which calls Drake out for being a deadbeat dad and getting a pornstar pregnant–and abandoning his son (much like his own dad had done to him). What really shocked fans was the album cover photo Pusha T decided to use–a photo of Drake in blackface.

Many fans were outraged to see one of their favorite rappers in such a disrespectful attire.

After people were curious why Drake–who happens to be biracial–was in blackface sporting a clothing line (Too Black Guys) created to mock black people, Drake himself issued a statement in terms of the photo. On Instagram, Drake explained that in 2007 when he was still an actor, he and his friend were working on a commentary project about how black actors were typecasted and struggling to get roles outside of their “stereotypes,” comparing it to a time of the Minstral show–showing not much had changed.

Instagram

The co-founder of Too Black Guys–the shirt that Drake was wearing in the photo–also issued this statement saying:

The photo in question was not from a Too Black Guys photoshoot however it did feature clothing from Too Black Guys’ JIM CROW COUTURE/HOUSE OF CROW collection which was released in 2008.

The collection featured several graphics that highlighted the painful and dangerous period of the Jim Crow Era. Too Black Guys has a history of representing the black experience in an unapologetic way. Although this was not an image from any of our photoshoots, we feel that Drake, who is a long- time friend of the brand, was brilliantly illustrating the hypocrisy of the Jim Crow Era. The subtleties of Drake, a young black man, mimicking how white men used to mimic and dehumanize black people may be lost in a rap battle but we should not be distracted from the issues that are still affecting our communities.

Some people weren’t buying it though.

https://twitter.com/demariojackson_/status/1002027092739899392

https://twitter.com/oddest_/status/1002191174059413504

What are your thoughts?