Drake & His Dad: A Look At The Rapper’s Relationship With Dennis Graham

Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, has defended the artist amid recent accusations of trolling. The Rap icon recently teased a new song titled “Rescue Me,” which samples Kim Kardashian talking about her divorce from Kanye West. “I didn’t come this far just to come this far, and not be happy,” Kardashian says on the track. Quickly, social media users accused Drake of trying to provoke Ye. However, Drizzy’s father stepped in. “Drake is not trolling anyone,” Drake’s dad wrote on Instagram. “It’s just a song, why try and create a Kanye and Drake beef again?”

However, while Drake and West have a history of drama, so do Drake and his dad. The Grammy winner has rapped about their relationship and being an absentee father. Additionally, in some of his earlier tracks, Drake describes feeling neglected by his father. He also says Graham was largely absent during his childhood. In 2019, Graham responded, making headlines. In an interview with Nick Cannon on Power 106, he says Drake exaggerated the stories in his music to sell records.

Drizzy took to Instagram, feeling wounded and betrayed, saying, “Woke up today so hurt man.” He adds, “My father will say anything to anyone that’s willing to listen to him. It’s sad when family gets like this, but what can we really do. That’s the people we are stuck with… Every bar I ever spit was the truth, and the truth is hard for some people to accept.”

Drake Shares His Hurt

Drake's Dad
Drake’s Instagram

Drake has spoken candidly about the complex nature of his relationship with his dad and how it’s evolved. He describes his father as a flamboyant and charismatic man who is a talented musician in his own right. However, Drake has been honest about his challenges growing up with a father who wasn’t around. In the song “Look What You’ve Done,” Drake speaks about his father’s absence and lack of child support.

Despite that, Drake and Dennis have a loving relationship. The OVO icon discussed how the two discussed their past and worked to overcome their differences. In the song “6PM in New York,” Drake raps more warmly about his father. “My dad called me up knowing that I still listen / And he’s still got his foot out, guilt trippin’ / It’s been years though, I just learn to deal with it.” Graham is even featured in the music video for “Worst Behavior,” and the two also collaborated on a song called “Heat of the Moment.”

Drake & Dennis Graham Find Connection

LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: Recording artist Drake (L) accepts the Top Artist award with his father Dennis Graham during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The father and son have continued to work on their relationship. In an interview with GQ, Drake discussed his father’s role in his life. He even says that Graham helped him develop his love for music. He added that his dad was present for the birth of his son, Adonis, and they’ve bonded over fatherhood.

Graham even released a music video for his own song “That on That.” The tune features him rapping and dancing in a barbershop, a casino, and other settings. The video went viral on social media and got mixed reviews. Some praised his energy; others criticized the video for being cheesy and dated.

A Father’s Love

Despite the negative feedback, Drake is proud of his father’s music career. He supports his efforts to establish himself as an artist. The two also seem much closer these days on a personal level. Graham even got significant ink of a younger Drizzy tattooed on his upper arm.

Drake hilariously roasted his dad over his bored expression on the tattoo. In an Instagram post, he wrote, “I was just sitting here thinking why you do me like this, we family!” followed by three laughing emojis. Graham laughed along, replying, “Hahaha I had 16 people try to straighten this out, they’re hurting me!”

More From Drake & His Dad

LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: (L-R) Recording artist Drake, recording artist Celine Dion and Dennis Graham attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/BBMA2017/Getty Images for dcp)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: (L-R) Rappers Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Wayne look on as recording artist Drake accepts the Top Artist award onstage with his father Dennis Graham during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Drake’s Dad Says He’s Not Trolling Kanye West With Kim Kardashian Sample

Even after Drake and Kanye West settled their issues, fans believed that the Canadian rapper was still taking shots at his one-time idol. After a few years of taking shots at one another, the two finally came together for the Larry Hoover benefit concert in a public effort to subdue the tension. However, things took a turn this weekend when Drake debuted new music on Sound 42’s Fry Yiy Show. “Rescue Me,” produced by BNYX, includes a sample of Kim Kardashian discussing her divorce from Ye on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

“I didn’t come this far just to come this far and not be happy. Remember that,” Kim says. Drake’s a bit too calculated to know that it wouldn’t have stirred up an uproar. Fans immediately felt like Drizzy was trolling Ye with that part from his latest record. Meanwhile, comment sections across Instagram bubbled up in the suspense. Now that Kanye returned to the ‘Gram, it felt like he was moments away from a lengthy Instagram caption. 

Dennis Graham Shuts Down Rumors

Though Drake hasn’t confirmed or denied that he was poking at Ye, his dad, Dennis Graham, slid through with a bit of commentary. He explained that his son isn’t actually trying to stir up any trouble with Ye. However, he feels like it’s the fans that fuel their issues. “Drake is not trolling anyone, it’s a song,” he commented on TMZ’s post. “Why try and create a Kanye and Drake beef again?” along with a handful of face palm emojis.

Perhaps, this wasn’t a particular dig at Ye. However, many, including the Donda artist, felt like a pair of bars on Her Loss intended to reignite their beef. On “Circo Loco,” Drake raps, “Linking with the opps, bitch, I did that shit for J. Prince / Bitch, I did it for the mob ties.” Ye, who was in the middle of contractual disputes, said that he wanted no smoke. “Enough already I done gave this man his flowers multiple times[.] Let’s really see who are real ops are in this music game,” he tweeted. “Imagine all the rappers on the same side and everyone cleaning up each others contracts It’s kingdom time[.] Love Drake #lovespeech.” Check out Dennis Graham’s response above. 

Drake & Adonis Link Up With Sandi & Dennis Graham

When Drake first found out about his son with former adult actress Sophie Brussaux, he immediately denied paternity. However, after taking a DNA test, the Canadian artist that he certainly is a father of one. Ever since, he and Adonis have been almost inseparable, having formed a special bond over basketball in particular.

Usually, the father-son duo is seen sitting courtside at Toronto Raptors games. His exuberant energy is evident, even just from the paparazzi photos captured at the event, but Drizzy seems to be loving every minute of parenting him.

Rapper Drake embraces his son Adonis as the Raptor mascot brings over candy for him during the first half of the NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the LA Clippers at Scotiabank Arena on December 27, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)

This weekend, it appears they had a party to attend together. Of course, the 36-year-old made sure he and Adonis were looking their best in matching outfits. Aside from the dapper suits, he also had their hair braided back in similar styles.

A photo posted to @theshaderoom sees Drake and his 5-year-old posing for the camera together. While the little one flashes a double peace sign, his grandparents – Dennis and Sandi Graham – stand behind him smiling. It seems as though the blonde-haired boy will take after his father in terms of height, as he’s already nearly the same size as his grandmother.

Elsewhere on the blogs, a video of Champagne Papi chatting with his family at the event is making rounds. As Adonis leans on his chest, Sandi’s face appears in the corner of the screen. The group seems to wish another woman in the room a happy birthday before going back to their own antics.

Drake appears to refer to his mother as his “twin,” earning a big smile from the family matriarch for the camera. Afterward, her grandson sticks his tongue out and eagerly dances as the 6ix God laughs.

It was obviously time to get together with the family this weekend, but prior to that, Drake spent much of January preparing for his legendary two-night run at the Apollo Theatre. The Canadian was joined by an impressive slew of guests, including The Diplomats, who declared him their “official fifth member.”

Read more about that here, and check back later for more pop culture news updates.

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Drake Couldn’t Help But Laugh At His Dad’s Tattoo Of Him And Fans Joined In With Jokes

On one fateful day in September 2017, Dennis Graham, best known as Drake’s dad, sat down and had a tattoo artist put Drake’s face right on his bicep. That was nearly five years ago now but the ink is still on Drake’s mind: Yesterday, he dug up a photo of the portrait, shared it on Instagram, and wrote, “@therealdennisg I was just sitting here thinking why you do me like this we family [crying laughing emojis].” Graham responded in the comments, “Hahaha I had 16 people to try and straighten this out,they’re hurting me.”

The good news (for Dennis’ sake) is that he quickly got the tattoo re-done: In February 2018, Inal Bersekov took a crack at covering up the tattoo and the result came out a lot better than the original attempt at it.

Drake and Graham are not the only ones having a laugh at the tattoo in its original form, as Drake re-sharing it brought renewed attention to it and therefore fresh fan reactions.

Plenty of folks chimed in with who they think the ink really looks like, with picks including former NFL star Arian Foster, Handsome Squidward from SpongeBob, and MMA fighter Rampage Jackson.

Meanwhile, others are roasting (or empathizing with) the artist.

Check out some more reactions below.

Drake Laughed At His Dad’s Tattoo Of Him And The Artist Isn’t Pleased

Back in 2017, Dennis Graham may have established himself as the proudest dad on Earth when he got a tattoo of his son Drake, a big rendering of his head on his bicep. For one reason or another, that ink was on Drake’s mind yesterday, so he posted about it on Instagram.

Sharing a photo of the ink, Drake roasted it, writing, “@therealdennisg I was just sitting here thinking why you do me like this we family [crying laughing emojis].” Graham took to the comments and noted he’s had multiple tattoo artists come in and try to improve the artwork, writing, “Hahaha I had 16 people to try and straighten this out,they’re hurting me.” He added in another comment, “I love you and miss you.”

The tattoo artist who initially did the ink, Money Mike, apparently isn’t pleased about all this: TMZ notes that in a new Instagram post about the tattoo, Mike included the hashtags “b*tchassDrake” and “ungratefulpieceofsh*t.”

The tattoo, by the way, was Graham returning the favor to his boy: In 2014, Drake got a tattoo of his dad.

Meanwhile, this past weekend was busy for Drake: he, DJ Khaled, and Lil Baby teamed up on “Staying Alive,” and he hosted his Young Money reunion with Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.

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Drake’s Dad Warns Black Artists Of VLAD TV Starting Beefs

Dennis Graham Drake Selfie Together

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