Drake and Drake’s Dad Can’t Agree on Whether Drake’s Dad Was a Bad Dad

The unconventional rap beef truly blossomed in 2019. Over the last few months, hip-hop fans witnessed two rap stars wage an inter-podcast battle and a former and current NBA player rap at each other over Instagram and SoundCloud. Now, as autumn descends, we receive Shakesperian levels of familial drama from the Graham household. During an interview with Nick Cannon on Power 106 Los Angeles, Drake’s dad, Dennis Graham, objected to the way he has been portrayed in his son’s music.

“I had a conversation with Drake about that. I have always been with Drake,” Dennis said. “I talk to him if not every day, every other day. We really got into a deep conversation about that. I said, ‘Drake why are you saying all of this different stuff about me, man? This is not cool.’ And he goes ‘Dad, it sells records.’”

Some of Drake’s most successful and personal songs have mined his relationship with his father. On songs like “0 to 100” and “Look What You’ve Done,” he’s detailed stories of his father not being around, breaking promises, and not paying child support. When asked about these lyrics in Drake’s music on a June episode of “A Waste of Time” with ItsTheReal, the elder Graham also denied their validity. “We had a conversation about that also,” he said. “I said ‘Drake, you gotta stop this man you know that never happened.’ He goes, ‘Dad, listen man. Just go with the flow. This shit sells records.’”

Predictably, the younger Graham decided to voice his disproval over his father’s comments via Instagram Stories. “Woke up today so hurt man. My father will say anything to anyone that’s willing to listen to him,” Drake wrote. “It’s sad when family gets like this but what can we really do that’s the people we are stuck with…every bar I ever spit was the truth and the truth is hard for some people to accept.”