Is Drake back on the road again? The OVO superstar hints at international dates by showing an Instagram throwback image of Australia. “It’s been like 7 years,” Drake wrote with several eyeball emoji.
In related news, Drake is back with a new music video. The Boy dons all OVO clothing and is surrounded by his Woes in the video for “No Face.” You can see the whole unit at a mall, riding through the space in Escalades and with the OVO flags in tow. You can see the whole video.
Drake is back with a new music video. The Boy dons all OVO clothing and is surrounded by his Woes in the vide for “No Face.” You can see the whole unit at a mall, riding through the space in Escalades, and with the OVO flags in tow. You can see the whole video.
In recent days, Drake has been putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming joint album with PartyNextDoor that’s due out soon. Amid that, he has also found some time to shoot a new music video, for his August track “No Face.”
The visual, which is currently only available on Instagram, sees Drake and some associates taking over an empty mall and doing what most people would in that scenario: drive around in ATVs and SUVs.
Playboi Carti featured on the initial version of the song, but his contributions have since been removed from the track.
When the song initially dropped, it was believed to be a Kendrick Lamar diss, as Drake raps (via Genius), “I don’t get sleepy off no melatonin / My therapist put in a 30-day notice / ‘Cause I keep on talkin’ ’bout beefin’ and business and money and women, there’s no diagnosis / They emptied the clip (Pfft) quick / Swapped that sh*t out and I came back reloaded / I’m just so happy that n****s who envied and held that sh*t in got to finally show it / I’m over the moon, yeah, we’ll see you boys soon / I’m spreadin’ my wings, I hop out, cocoon.”
DJ Akademiks nor any of his like-minded colleagues have made a compelling case about why “Family Matters” is the best diss track to emerge from Drake’s feud with Kendrick Lamar besides, “it was a 20 v. 1” or “he rapped over three beats.” It might suffice for pedestrian rap fans, but those two arguments alone embody Drake’s appeal to his core audience: quantity over quality. Drake’s turnover rate has been so high over the past four years that a third installment in the Scary Hours series arrived less than a month after his highly-anticipated eighth studio album to equally shaky reception. Though most anticipated that he’d go on an extended break after For All The Dogs, the emergence of King Kendrick in the midst of the second leg of the It’s All A Blur tour stifled his plans.
We’re basically four months removed from the beef of the decade. The summer’s over, and we’re entering the final quarter of 2024 that will preview what’s to come next year. And yet for the last few months, the top charting spots on the Hot 100 that have been historically reserved for Drake’s summer reign have been occupied by a diss song that paints him as a colonizer, a pedophile, a thief, a human trafficker, and an abuser, among many other heinous labels. “Not Like Us” will likely carry through the fall, especially among the marching bands that anchor the spirit of HBCUs nationwide.
Through strategy and consistency, Kendrick Lamar managed to dim Drake’s star power in a matter of days. By the time Drake returned with “The Heart Pt. 6,” Kendrick was clearly the victor, yet no one could’ve predicted the damage inflicted by a record like “Not Like Us.” The volley of insults and accusations came to a standstill and no one, except for Drake loyalists, felt that Kendrick needed to carry on any further with this beef, even as he was accused of domestic violence. After years of proving that he earned his space within a battle realm among hip-hop’s elite, Kendrick revealed Drake’s Achilles heel: being on the defense. The defeat has been rather brutal to witness. The brightest alumni under Lil Wayne’s Young Money had been stomped out like a cigarette butt.
SANTIAGO, CHILE – MARCH 18: Drake performs during day two of Lollapalooza Chile 2023 on March 18, 2023 in Santiago, Chile. (Photo by Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images)
In the months that followed, his approach to asserting his dominance came in the form of jokey-joke records (“U My Everything,” “Wha Gwan Delilah”), a pair of records on Camilla Cabello’s album, and another two songs on Gordo’s album. None of them felt like the “summer vibes” we were truly promised, nor did they make any meaningful impact on the same charts that Drake dominated for 10+ years. “Not Like Us” wasn’t a career-ender but a song that was big enough to eclipse a 15-year hot streak for a summer. Drake’s Billboard accomplishments, historical streaming feats, and cultural value have recently become obsolete in the grand conversation. Some agreed with Kendrick’s analysis of Drake’s place in hip-hop, while others completely fell into the rabbit hole of the “meet the grahams” cover art. Those who already had a disdain towards Drake felt vindicated that someone with a platform as big as Kendrick Lamar’s finally said the quiet parts out loud. But “Not Like Us” isn’t the kill shot people expect it to be. Losing a rap battle of this magnitude isn’t easy to stomach. The perception surrounding who Drake is behind the scenes hasn’t worn off entirely yet. And with his back against the wall, the Canadian superstar finally has the opportunity to get on the offensive line.
The launch of the 100 Gigs, through the @plottttwistttttt account, has marked a second wind in what appears to be another chapter in the storied journey of Drake’s career. The first drop, which arrived at the top of August, included three new songs, “It’s Up” ft. Young Thug & 21 Savage, “Red Blue Green,” and “Housekeeping Knows” ft. Latto and hours of unreleased footage that shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of beloved records and albums, his travels across the world, moments with his family, and brushing shoulders with celebrity friends. Though the music itself sounded as generic as a ChatGPT prompt to create a Drake song, the moments where he’s playing ping-pong with Stephen Curry, conversing with his mom during the “Hotline Bling” session about Serena Williams, or putting the final touches on albums like Scorpion with 40 humanizes him with glimpses of the artist that we initially grew to love.
But the second batch feels a bit more sinister. With plenty of hints towards a second round, the release of “No Face” and “Circadian Rhythm” felt like the beginning of a new chapter where Drake wants his lick back. The former is much more confrontational and aggressive, anchored by the industrial-leaning synths and a minimal yet effective inclusion of Playboi Carti. But beyond that, the record is opening up the floodgates to another round with a bit more preparation behind it. “Try to knock the Boy but f*ck it, I’m stayin’ on,” he raps. “It’s so many people we turnin’ the tables on/ Capo got plans, but we’ll save that for later on/ Hush’ll keep sayin’ they know that they played it wrong.” Add to the fact that recently surfaced footage of Drake and 40 discussing a potential collaboration with Kendrick surfaced (dating back to 2012-2013), it’s clear that Drake is hinting that he has some sort of bombshell in the cut, whether new music or footage, that might finally debunk conspiracies that he has a hidden 11-year-old daughter, which is literally the least concerning aspect of “meet the grahams.”
Internet sleuths might get stuck in a rabbit hole trying to crack the hidden messages intertwined in diss songs and social media posts. Or maybe, the speculation could end with the next 100 Gigs content dump. Ultimately, the recent string of releases shouldn’t be overlooked as an attempt to move past the narrative but rather, an attempt to take control of it. We’re either on the receiving end of an album that will fan the flames of criticism or witness the unfolding of a diabolical plan that will plant Drake’s foot on the neck of Kendrick Lamar and everyone else who chose a side.
The summer is coming to a close, but Drake still has heat to deliver. Yesterday (August 23), the “Too Good” rapper seemingly woke up and chose violence.
Apparently, Drake’s 100 Gigs release was just a warm-up. When everyone least expected it, Drake dropped another previously unreleased collaboration, “No Face” featuring Playboi Carti.
Although Playboi Carti’s guest verses have proven to be a hit song’s secret sauce, he only appears across the track’s chorus. The verses are reserved for Drake, as he seemingly took aim at Kendrick Lamar once again. Back in May, Drake supposedly waved that white flag in heated battle. But, some rap beefs never die.
Drake subtly addressed his longtime foe, Metro Boomin, and possibly Mustard in the opening lines, as he rapped: “This is the sh*t that my daddy had raised me on / N****s got lit off the features I skated on / I gotta know, I gotta know / How you get lit off the n**** you hatin’ on? / Numbers untouchable, they got the data wrong.”
In the next verse, Drake turned his attention to musicians who jumped in to shade him during the height of his beef with Kendrick Lamar.
“Cause I keep on talkin’ ’bout beefin’ and business and money and women / It’s no diagnosis, they emptied the clip / Quick, swap that sh*t out, and I came back reloaded / I’m just so happy that n****s who envied and held that shit in got to finally show it / I’m over the / Moon, yeah, we’ll see you boys soon / I’m spreadin’ my wings, I hop out cocoon,” he rapped.
Listen to Drake’s song “No Face” featuring Playboi Carti above.
A little over a week before her debut album, You Still Here, Ho? drops, Flo Milli is back with another raunchy heater. The latest from the Alabama native rapper, “No Face,” features Milli delivering her unabashed, raunchy rhymes, over a futuristic electronic beat.
On the song’s chorus, she repeats, “put that p*ssy on his face / put that p*ssy on his face / put that p*ssy on his face / no face, no case,” and later says, “Ridin’ ’round in ‘Bama, got these n****s in rotation / I ain’t gotta rap, you know p*ssy rule the nation.”
Ahead of You Still Here, Ho?, Milli has also released “PBC,” a powerful anthem whose title means, “pretty, Black, cute.”
In an interview with NME this past March, Milli said she is aware of her fiery pen game and the impact of her untouchable bars
“I knew the power of words, and that’s probably the reason why I do what I do,” Milli said, “because, at the end of the day, you can hate on me, but when you get in that car and hear the radio, you ain’t got no motherfucking choice but to hear me on the radio. When you’re in that club, you’re going to hear my voice. I don’t have to say anything at all.”
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