Drake addresses blackface photo
The cover art for rapper Pusha-T’s song The Story of Adidon is jarring: a photo of a young (musician) Drake, in blackface (theatrical makeup used by non-black performers to caricature a black person), with a wide grin. The image, the latest volley in an ongoing back-and-forth between the rappers, and the result of opposition research, has left fans scrambling to debate its legitimacy and determine its source.
After 24 hours of memes and speculation (around his authenticity and about his hiding a secret child), the biracial Drake responded, for now, only to the photograph, via a statement on Instagram. “I know everyone is enjoying the circus but I want to clarify this image in question,” part of his statement read. “This picture is from 2007, a time in my life where I was an actor and I was working on a project that was about young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped, typecast.”
“The photos represented how African-Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment, “he went on to say, adding that he and a friend were “attempting to use our voice to bring awareness to the issue we dealt with all the time as black actors at auditions.” Drake had also acted in a short film, titled Us & Them, at the time.
The blackface photo, taken from photographer David Leyes’ website, was surfaced by Pusha-T after Drake’s own strikes in Duppy Freestyle, released on Friday in response to untoward lyrics in Pusha-T’s new album. Leyes also wrote on Instagram that the image was Drake’s idea and that he was “proud to be part of a strong statement made by a black man” about the culture he is living in.