Drake has put himself in a unique predicament thanks to the UMG lawsuit. In his and fans eyes, he was fighting against wrongful allegations hurled at him by Kendrick Lamar on "Not Like Us." His defamation battle was his way of getting back at his foe, a round two of sorts.
However, it failed pretty miserably and from a hip-hop purist's perspective, his loss saved what makes rap beefs, rap beefs. The ability to bring up any and everything to embarrass one's opponent remains intact.
As a result, a lot of listeners believe Drake's credibility and standing in the genre is dwindling and rapidly so. Additionally, the hate for him has drastically increased, and maybe the loudest it's been in quite some time.
So, what can he do to win the audience back? One of his staunchest defenders, DJ Akademiks, recently gave him what he thinks is the blueprint during his VladTV interview ahead of ICEMAN. "When I mean leave him alone, we’ve got to leave the moment. There’s no more direct engaging. There ain’t no more with diss songs. It’s over. He’s still gotta sneak diss him. It’s gotta be the Jay-Z approach."
He continued, "After this battle, it should be Drake’s last. Like, why engage with rappers? In any of these situations, you have nothing to gain. Would you go on a business deal you got nothing to gain... He’s already solidified."
Drake ICEMAN
While that might true, Drake hears the noise from the internet and the rap community. In some capacity, it seems he still feels like he needs to prove to everyone that he's still the top dog.
He's already taken jabs at Lamar during the second ICEMAN livestream, as well as some of his cohorts like LeBron James with "What Did I Miss?"
But on top of that The Boy has recently decided to respond to anyone that doesn't like him in classic fashion. Per Kurrco, he posted an Instagram carousel last night and in the collection of photos is a picture of a t-shirt that exemplifies his corniness. "Hating Drake Doesn't Make You Deep," it reads.
It goes without saying that the internet is having a field day with this, making things even worse for him. But maybe this all a part of his grand plan for ICEMAN (and his way of responding to Lamar fans). According to Johnny Manziel, we should be expecting the ninth album by November at the latest.
However, a solid release date nor tracklist has yet to be announced.
