Through the years, Aubrey Drake Graham A.K.A. Drake has earned the reputation of being "the good boy" of hip-hop, as well as that needy boyfriend who's always in his feelings.
The internet has deemed him the ultimate softboy who's most likely to call his ex-girlfriends late at night to tell them how much they've hurt him. Here's how the rapper developed this image and why many think it's gotten to a "toxic" level.
Drake Once Confessed His Feelings For Rihanna At The VMAs Stage
In 2016, Rihanna was awarded the prestigious Video Vanguard Award. Drake — who referred to her as one of his "best friends" — presented the award. But instead of celebrating the Umbrella singer's achievement, the Certified Lover Boy used the moment to confess his feelings for the singer.
"She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old," Drake said at the time. "She's one of my best friends in the world. All my adult life, I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me. She's a living, breathing legend in our industry. Ladies and gentlemen, the recipient of the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award for 2016, Rihanna."
After his speech, Drake even leaned in for a full kiss, but Rihanna only gave him the cheek. Fans thought it was uncomfortable. "[The] whole time she was just waiting for him to finish," a fan wrote on the YouTube clip's comments. One even said that they should've asked someone else to present the award to the Savage X Fenty founder. "He totally embarrassed her," claimed the commenter. "It was a bad idea to have him deliver such an important award at such an important moment of her career. There were certainly more important people to do this for her."
Rihanna talked about it later in a 2018 Vogue interview. She said that she was indeed "uncomfortable" back then and that she's no longer friends with Drake. "The VMAs is such a fan-focused awards show, so having that energy around me, and knowing the people who had received the award in the past, made it feel like a big deal," she shared. "Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don't like too many compliments. I don't like to be put on blast." When asked about their current relationship, she said: "We don't have a friendship now, but we're not enemies either. It is what it is."
Drake 'Plays Victim' In His Failed Relationships
In 2018, Refinery published an article titled: "Can We Finally Admit Drake Isn't The 'Good Guy' We Thought He Was?" There, writer Sesali Bowen claimed that Drake tends to "assume victimhood when his romantic relationships aren't going how he wants them to (see: Hotline Bling)."
In the track, the Degrassi alum sings, "Ever since I left the city, you / Got a reputation for yourself now / Everybody knows and I feel left out / Girl you got me down, you got me stressed out." But in the article, Bowen was referring to Drake getting away with getting an adult film actress pregnant after only meeting her in person twice.
At the time, there have been rumors that Drake had secretly fathered a child. At that time, he'd just started to share some details about his now-four-year-old son, Adonis with former French model and artist, Sophie Brussaux. That year, the rapper dropped his album, Scorpion. In his track Emotionless, he made quite the statement.
Bowen, like many other Drake critics, thought that it was irresponsible of him to unintentionally get a woman pregnant, especially since he'd only met him twice. The writer added that contrary to the One Dance hitmaker's "good guy" image, his paternity scandal showed that he's actually "reckless" and not any "more chivalrous than rappers like, say, Future," who was labeled a bad parent by his ex-fiancée, Ciara during their custody trial in 2016.
Fans Think Drake Is As 'Toxic' As Kanye West
Early in 2022, when Kanye West had a social media meltdown — attacking his estranged wife Kim Kardashian and her then-boyfriend, Pete Davidson — a Redditor quickly saw parallels between the Donda artist and Drake. "Fans of Drake and Kanye West are as toxic as them," they wrote on the subreddit Unpopular Opinion. "I've noticed a few common traits among people who are huge fans of these two. Self-obsessed, self-centered, smack-talking, and just overall a*******."
Though it's unfair to compare Drake and Ye's music prowess, the Redditor made some good points about the rappers' mutual bitterness about their exes moving on from them, as well as taking the stage to ambush these women with their feelings.
