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On June 18th, before settling down into any serious workloads, the internet took a little pause from pouring over the plethora of music released from Kanye West, J. Cole and Kelly Rowland to check out the latest release from Drake: A GQ cover story. 

Typically, magazine article interviews are expertly controlled by PR, and some topics are flagged red in the “no-go zone” that we’re simply not allowed to touch. That zone proved to be family talk for Kanye West in his New York Times interview, and anything not related to music in Beyonce’s GQ cover story, but not with Drake. Just as he’s formally expressed through his songs, Drake isn’t afraid to open up. For those reasons and more, any interview with Drizzy himself is a revealing one. After scouring over the article and going beyond the obvious Chris Brown and Rihanna references, we bring you everything we learned about Drake from his GQ Magazine interview.

1. Even with a bikini-clad party happening at his mansion, Drake says he doesn’t live the life of a rapper: 

“This ain’t every day,” he says. “I really don’t live some crazy rapper life.”

2. He’s pretty much going to say “fuck the haters” until one of them can have some real feedback about his music:

And for his trouble, he’s been called a “counterfeit rapper” (Ludacris), “a fuckin’ piece of shit” (DMX), and “a straight pussy” (Lil’ Kim), and cajoled to “come out the closet” (Chris Brown). Common rapped: You so black and white, trying to live a nigga’s life… / You ain’t wet nobody, nigga, you Canada dry. And that’s coming from Common.

“You notice they don’t criticize the music itself, though,” says Drake about his detractors. “I’m okay with that.”

3. He is not having unsolicited sex until his album is released…kinda:

“You know the way fighters don’t fuck before the fight?” he says. “Sometimes I feel like I’m so focused on training my body and getting my mind right to create this album that sex isn’t one of my main priorities.”

4. He is no longer saving random women from stripper poles and giving them the flesh…until his album is done:

“If someone is around that I know and trust, I’m down. But I’m not going to end up with some stranger at this party.”

5. Drake is kind of like Gatsby, and he hangs out in the safari room of his house making music while parties happen below:

“Even as the house fills with half-naked ladies, Drake remains off to the side, observing—in the TV room or up in the studio, what he calls the Safari Room, for its painting of a lion on the wall—puffing on his hookah. There’s a stuffed tiger, thick curtains that remain drawn against the sunlight, Oriental rugs on the floor, and a big hookah to blow on.”


6. Drake’s house is home to real rapper shit. Bikini-clad parties, “Project X”-style…even though, again, he doesn’t live the rapper life.:

“Outside, the pool party is thumping as the sky darkens, Future and Kendrick Lamar on the stereo, several stacks of pizza boxes, drinks galore. The party is climbing to that point where all responsibility will soon be abdicated. The music blares. Some dude puffs his chest and dives again from the top of the waterfall. Without announcing it, Drake disappears back to the studio.”

7. Four years ago, Drake had the worst date of ALL TIME (Yeezy voice): 

“Ever since Drake got robbed four years ago while on a date—and because the game is a daily Kabuki of these rapper threats and counterthreats—every little movement requires security.”

8. Drake’s drink of choice has made a dramatic switch from white wine spritzers to strawberry margaritas:

“It’s not Drake’s first time here. In fact our waitress acts a bit chilly at first, taking Drake’s order for a strawberry margarita.”

9. Drake is NAWT looking for love. He is doing what 25-year-olds do, and is living life with his friends…as long as his n*ggas love him, right? Right.

“I’ve made a lot of music about love being the only thing I’m missing. I think this is the first album I’ve made saying, I’m okay. I’m enjoying it right now. Maybe this is my time to grind it out, make a run for it and add some memories with my boys.”

10. But if he wasn’t rapping, he would be a damn good boyfriend. (Dammit another one lost to the game): 

“But listen I wasn’t doing this, man, and I was back home in Toronto, and I had my job that kept me in the city, my girl would be my life.”

11. He doesn’t consider his multi-millionaire status to be “rich:”

“Rappers aren’t the really rich ones. We all have nice houses with studios and cars, but you need a piece of someone’s business to be super wealthy.”

12. He knows people were mad about “Started From The Bottom,” but is all like “ah ha I made a good song and you tight” to their opinions:

“I think a lot of people wish their favorite rapper wrote it—as if a song like that should be gangster—but I was the one who wrote it, and everyone has their bottom,” he says.

13. There happen to be some misconceptions about Drizzy:

“The three biggest misconceptions about me are that I’m a cocky asshole because I’m a famous male rapper, that any part of me wants to be gangster or hood, and that I grew up rich.”

14. He’s finally begun to forgive his father for his sad story, black American dad story:

“My father is an incredible man—charming, talented, and stylish—and I’m sort of living the dream he had for himself. But his actions served as that reverse role model for me. There are a lot of things that I don’t ever want to do. I don’t want to miss years of my child’s life. I don’t want to put a woman on a roller-coaster ride.”

15. He doesn’t have a stage age:

“This is my real age, my real name, my real past, and I’m good with that. No—I’m grateful for that.”

16. And of course, we learned that he really did write that song just for you. Yep, just for you: 

“I want you to leave with the feeling that I was talking to you the whole time. If I pointed to you, you’re probably right, I did point to you. I probably was talking about your friend, you know?”