Drake gives fans More Life
DAVID FRIEND
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Drake has finally delivered his latest album, but he hasn’t necessarily handed us all the answers. The Toronto rapper has unleashed his studio project, giving fans plenty to chew on while raising a new batch of questions. David Friend asks the following: his eclectic taste for memorable songs. He digs into the record crates for Lionel Richie’s
and throws it on the outro of while fellow soul legends Earth Wind & Fire get their song
worked into But more surprising is Drake’s magnetism to underdogs such as South African house DJ Black Coffee, whose jazzy is the backdrop for He even throws a total curveball with a sample of the theme from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game, on the track
While some Toronto Raptors fans growl about Drake’s absence from recent games, he’s still got props for Canada. Hints of his homeland are scattered throughout
including a subtle nod at the mac and cheese formerly known as Kraft Dinner (“Mama never used to cook much. Used to chef KD,” on and local Toronto-area spots he once knew (“Used to be at SilverCity Indigo. Used to be in lunchroom playing dominoes,” on
He even leaves time for one of Canada’s most popular tourist attractions, though it’s not exactly a shining endorsement (“We evolved, used to think vacation meant Niagara Falls” he raps on
Drake’s mom Sandi Graham offers wise words on the final moments of
In what appears to be a voice mail clip, she suggests her son checks his emotions. “I’m a bit concerned about this negative tone I’m hearing in your voice these days,” she says. “That attitude will just hold you back in this life.” She ends with a slight paraphrase on Michelle Obama’s famous 2016 Democratic National Convention quote: “When others go low, we go high.”
Drake seems to take his mom’s advice to heart, suggesting on
that he’ll slam the brakes on his whirlwind music career. On the final track he lays out his plan, saying, “Take the summer off ’cause they tell me I need recovery. Maybe getting back to my regular life will humble me. I’ll be back 2018 and get you the summary.” Maybe that’ll be enough time to settle into his new mansion in Toronto’s posh Bridle Path neighbourhood and ring a few doorbells.
DAVID FRIEND
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — YouTube is apologizing to its LGBTQ users for an ongoing technical issue that filters out some gay and trans-themed videos for some users.
At issue is YouTube’s “restricted” designation, which lets parents, schools and libraries filter content that may be considered inappropriate for users under 18.
Johanna Wright, YouTube vice president of product management, says the “feature isn’t working the way it should” and pledged to “fix it.”
Recently, YouTubers began noticing some videos with LGBTQ themes weren’t showing up under the restricted settings, despite having no obvious age-sensitive content.
Toronto video producer Michael Rizzi saw his 7 Things I Love About My Boyfriend video disappear in restricted mode, while transgender creator Stef Sanjati saw her make-up tutorials filtered out.
YouTube previously acknowledged that some health and politics videos may also be caught in the filter.
The company blames the glitch on its systems which “sometimes make mistakes in understanding
NEW YORK — Woody Harrelson has given up marijuana after decades of what he calls partying too hard.
The actor is one of Hollywood’s most well-known marijuana enthusiasts. Harrelson tells Vulture that he hasn’t smoked pot in nearly a year.
He cites “30 solid years” of partying for his decision to quit. He also says he felt like the drug was “keeping me from being emotionally context and nuances” when choosing videos for its restricted mode.
Wright highlighted four videos the company has “manually reviewed” and restored, including a music video from Calgaryraised singers Tegan and Sara, but she didn’t outline what will happen with clips posted by less-famous users.
“It will take time to fully audit our technology and roll out new changes, so please bear with us,” she added.
Some YouTube users have called on the company to disable the faulty technology in the meantime. The company didn’t address those requests in its blog post.
YouTube said about 1.5 per cent of its daily views come from users who have activated the restricted mode. available.” Still, he has nothing bad to say about marijuana, which he calls “a great drug.”
The 55-year-old says he still drinks alcohol in moderation.
Harrelson was arrested in 1996 for planting hemp seeds in Kentucky in order to challenge a state law. Hemp is a relative of marijuana, but has a lower concentration of THC, the substance that makes pot smokers high. The Associated Press