The roots of Drake’s sensitivity

Drake isn’t your typical rapper, said Jonah Weiner in Rolling Stone. A Canadian former child actor, he has a Jewish mother, and his father is black. That unconventional background has allowed the rapper and singer to flout the rules of hip-hop, and he’s become known for his candid songs about heartbreak and relationships—songs that have invited mockery from hip-hop’s old guard. Other rappers taunt that “I make music for women,” Drake says. “There are memes of guys crying to my music. I love it.” His sensitivity may be the product of his closeness with his mother growing up. His parents divorced when he was 5, partly because his father kept getting arrested for drug-selling, theft, and other crimes. “He was a mover and a shaker, a hustler: If you had it, he could sell it for you,” Drake says. His mom gave him a thesaurus and urged him to learn as many words as he could—a tool that’s been useful in his rapping career. Today, he sometimes meets his dad in restaurants and strip clubs, but their nights don’t always end well. “With my dad, it’s a toss-up,” he says, with resigned weariness. “Could be better, could be worse, but I love him. So whatever it is, I’ll deal with it.”

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