Drake responded on Wednesday night to the firestorm surrounding a photo of him in blackface, saying on Instagram that the pictures were from a 2007 photo shoot back when he was an actor.
Statement from Drake addresses the blackface photos... but skips on explaining the hidden child allegations.
Drake said the photos taken by David Leyes came from a project he worked on with actor Mazin Elsadig to "bring awareness" to how young black actors struggle to get roles and "get stereotyped and type cast."
Please stop referring to this picture as “artwork”...I’m not an internet baby, I don’t edit images...this is a REAL picture...these are his truths, see for yourself https://t.co/gd6vRS3HM8 https://t.co/2el58HEZ8F
Drake said the photos "represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment".
The images surfaced Tuesday after rapper Pusha T used the blackface photo as the cover art for a new track dissing the Canadian.
Pusha T's track "The Story of Adidon" takes aim at Drake, criticizing his family and friends, and claims the rapper has a secret child. Drake did not address that claim in his statement.
The whole thing inspired a huge wave of reaction.
Drake came with rap punchlines and Pusha hit back with investigative journalism
Adidon is the name of Drake’s upcoming Adidas line and now that name will be associated with this beef and Pusha’s monstrous diss track. Pusha has, in effect, screwed up Drake's brand before it came out.
Drake: you not top 5 in your label. Pusha T: You not in your son's life and your producer about to die.
In the photo Drake wears clothing from the label Too Black Guys. The founder of the company, Adrian Aitcheson, said in a statement that the image was not from a Too Black Guys photo shoot, but that Drake was "brilliantly illustrating the hypocrisy of the Jim Crow era".
here’s Too Black Guys, the Canadian streetwear brand Drake is wearing in the blackface photos, on those blackface photos... https://t.co/IJ5SzizaSz