Over the past 24 hours, hip-hop has been consumed in debate brought about by the subject matter addressing drake, on several fronts, in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon." However, to a good many fans, the most controversial shot the GOOD Music president let off wasn't on the actual track - but on the song's cover art.
The question now floating around amongst fans, journalists, and the greater industry asks whether Drake has a blackface scandal on his hands. When questioned about the photo during his interview on Power 105.1 on Wednesday, May 30, Push appeared to imply that he certainly thinks so. But he doesn't speak for everybody in that regard, especially considering the specific photograph he used doesn't actually present the entire image.
"Not defending or deflecting but did you see the whole picture? It's two pictures, you know. You do know that right? That it's two pictures," Lupe Fiasco replied, when asked what he thought about the cover on Twitter. He went on to explain how Push actually cropped off an image paired side by side with the one he exposed, that shows Drizzy with a more serious and perceivably saddened face. "Both together actually presents a powerful duality of representation [on] race and its expectations on art," he tweeted.
It has since come to light that the snap was taken from a shoot that Drake did with photographer David Leyes in 2008. The spread, titled Too Black Guys, apparently carried a theme of what Leyes calls 'Jim Crow Couture.' Drake is yet to have issued a statement on his personal reasons for involving himself in the project, but Leyes has come forth to confirm that the actual blackface concept was the rapper's idea.
