Drake's Blackface photo was first reported to be a simple work consultation between photographer and subject but had a funny way of revealing itself in a matter of hours. The photo was initially sourced to photographer David Leyes (by Pusha T), and within hours the Internet was able to causally link Lupe Fiasco to the photo shoot as well. At first Lupe wanted no part in the fiasco, then hours later he modified his answer to reflect the reasons that made him culpable in the first place. "I’m proud to be part of a strong statement made by a black man about the f*cked up culture he is livin in." Lupe Fiasco was thereby identified as another model in the photographer's photo series depicting "the powerful duality" governing our expectations of race in art.
With Lupe's admission of complicity, the Internet was able to uncover yet another layer of foreground to the incriminating circumstances hovering over the image. According to Justin Davis, a writer for Billboard, the image can be traced to a "Jim Crow Couture Summer 08" campaign put out by Toronto clothing brand Too Black Guys back in 2008. A write up for their summer Lookbook can be traced back to an article published on High Snobriety, with less offensive images taken up by other up and coming hip hop artists (at the time) such as Pacific Div, Diz Gibran, and TiRon. A source close to Drake told the Blast his "client" was complicit in the brand's "unapologetic" representation of the Black experience.
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