Drake Addresses Blackface Photo, Pusha-T Responds
Drake is breaking his silence about the controversial photo of him in blackface.
The cover art for Pusha-T’s diss track “The Story of Adidon” features the Canadian rapper in blackface with a wide grin and was released in response to Drake’s Pusha diss “Duppy Freestyle.”
Twenty-four hours after the song dropped, the biracial rapper addressed the photo in a statement on Instagram, saying that the blackface shoot was from early on in his career and intended to serve as a commentary on race.
Drake speaks on “blackface” photos circulating. pic.twitter.com/y3SrOl9DcQ
— Word On Road (@WordOnRd) May 31, 2018
“I know everyone is enjoying the circus but I want to clarify this image in question,” wrote Drake. “This was not from a clothing brand shoot or my music career. 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 and type cast. The photos represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment.”
He continued, “Me and my best friend at the time Mazin Elsadig who is also an actor from Sudan were attempting to use our voice to bring awareness to the issues we dealt with all the time as black actors at auditions. This was to highlight and raise our frustrations with not always getting a fair chance in the industry and to make a point that the struggle for black actors had not changed much.”
It was previously reported that the photo was taken as part of a Canadian clothing brand called Too Black Guys and their streetwear line Jim Crow Couture. However, both Drake and the clothing company have denied the claim.
here’s Too Black Guys, the Canadian streetwear brand Drake is wearing in the blackface photos, on those blackface photos… pic.twitter.com/IJ5SzizaSz
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 31, 2018
The photographer, David Leyes, also released a statement in defense of Drake. “I’m proud to be apart of a strong statement made by a black man about the fucked up culture he is living in,” he said.
During his visit to “Big Boy’s Neighborhood” on Real 92.3, Pusha responded to Drake’s statement. “That doesn’t change my view at all. You are silent on all black issues, Drake,” he said. “You don’t stand for nothing, you don’t say nothing about nothing. You have all the platform in the world. You were so passionate back then? No you weren’t. That’s number one. That’s what I know.”
On “The Story of Adidon,” Pusha also alleges that Drake fathered a child with former porn star Sophie Brussaux. Drake is reportedly financially supporting both Brussaux and his son.