Ever since Drake’s breakout hit, “Best I Ever Had,” some hip-hop fans have found any reason they could to justify their hate for the Canadian hitmaker. From demeaning his upbringing and early career as a child actor to outdated and regressive homophobic attacks to Yasiin Bey’s pseudo-intellectual take, Drake haters will seemingly always find a reason for dumping on the For All The Dogs rapper.
But all those reasons are just a smokescreen for one, real reason — at least, according to Drake’s longtime mentor, benefactor, and frequent collaborator, Lil Wayne. The New Orleans icon offered an intriguing, “historical” explanation for people hating on Drake during a recent podcast interview which was surfaced by HipHopDX earlier this week. Appearing on The Richard Sherman Podcast (there are TOO MANY PODCASTS), Wayne gave his simple take for all the disrespect:
“He red, he light-skinned,” Wayne conjectured. “That’s just American history. How I know is, because I’m not light-skinned. I hated on all light-skinned dudes in school. So yeah, it’s American history, man.”
While I’m sure there’s more to it than that (at least, for some people), colorism has been a longstanding issue in the music industry. And just speaking for personal experience, there does appear to be a certain amount of resentment that manifests as mean-spirited “jokes” and well-worn stereotypes. But then again, it seems like everyone has to deal with some version of this, so maybe Drake’s status as a relatable superstar remains intact, after all.
Check out the video of the interview below.