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When Drake first exploded into the rap mainstream with his debut album Thank Me Later over a decade ago, he seemed reluctant to rap about his hometown. Whether because he felt a new affinity for adopted homes such as Houston, Atlanta, and New Orleans—where he’d met and found success with Lil Wayne and other American rappers—or simply because he was hesitant to be thought of as Canadian, he almost never mentioned the streets, neighbourhoods, or landmarks of the city where he grew up.
Things really changed around the time of Nothing Was the Same, when having started from the bottom became a central part of the Drake narrative, and suddenly references to his humble beginnings were abundant. By the time of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and especially Views, Drake was taking every opportunity to shout out street names and restaurants, apartment buildings, and arenas. He must have realized at some point that, even if Toronto could never make him famous, he was now so famous he could put Toronto on. He even bestowed a new name on the place: the 6ix.
Naturally, the trend continues on his latest album, Certified Lover Boy, which contains all manner of nods to The Boy’s beloved city—some dark, some heartfelt, some hilarious.
From Italian trattorias to condos downtown, to east-side slang to west-end strip clubs, these are our favourite Toronto references that Drake has ever made.
“Champagne Poetry”
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “I know I tend to talk about how I got a fortune on me/But with that comes the politics the city been forcing on me/Man, I can’t even RIP and show my remorse to the homie/Know I carry the guilt of the city’s misfortune on me”
Drake’s standing as the 6ix God is a complicated one—while he’s celebrated for putting Toronto at the centre of the hip-hop universe, he’s also called upon to help fix the gun violence that’s been plaguing the city. After his friend Anthony “Fif” Soares was shot and killed in Toronto in 2017, members of the police and the news media vocally criticized Drizzy for not leveraging his platform to help solve the case. Drake would later pay tribute to Fif by putting his face on the back cover of his 2020 mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes. But the “politics” he speaks of in this song could also refer to the gang warfare that pervades Toronto’s current underground rap scene. These days, even openly grieving a fallen friend can be perceived as picking sides. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Lemon Pepper Freestyle"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “For real, and my city love me like DeMar DeRozan/I sent her the child support, she sent me the heart emoji/They all say they love me, but they hardly know me”
NBA star DeMar DeRozan played the first nine years of his career in Toronto, where he was absolutely adored for his loyalty to the city. Though he was eventually traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard in a blockbuster trade in 2018, the 6ix never lost its affection for Deebo, giving him a deafening standing ovation when he returned to Scotiabank Arena to play the Raptors in February 2019. During his time in Toronto, DeRozan grew close to Drake, who wrote an emotional tribute to the shooting guard shortly after his trade, calling him “an incredible captain and and even better friend.” —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Papi's Home"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Shorties out here gettin’ knocked down/City coming off a lockdown”
As we saw in the “Toosie Slide” video, Drake’s been spending the last 18 months much like the rest of us, holed up at home by his lonesome. So, with Toronto opening back up and live music returning after a successful COVID-19 vaccination campaign—for now—he’s just as stoked as the next guy to reconnect with the city. Papi’s home, indeed. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Pipe Down"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Tried to run it back a hundred times/The world is yours, but the city’s mine”
“Pipe Down” finds Drake is classic sadboi mode, pining for a lover with whom things didn’t work out. Here, he takes solace in the fact that while she may be a woman of the world, Toronto will always be his. “City Is Mine” is also the name of a track off Drake’s 2006 mixtape, Room For Improvement, which features his first-ever shout-out to his hometown. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Energy"
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Year: 2015
Lyric: "I got real ones livin' past Kennedy Road/I got real ones with me everywhere that I go"
Drake is certainly no stranger to Scarborough’s Kennedy Road, where, as he alludes to on “Energy,” he’s got more than a few friends holed up. It also happens to be the part of town where Drake, at the time still a young Audrey Graham, spent countless days filming Degrassi. (Kennedy Road also “taught me not to trust people like you,” as he raps on Views opener “Keep the Family Close.” —Calum Marsh
“7am On Bridle Path”
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Give that address to your driver, make it your destination/Instead of just a post out of desperation”
People were waiting to hear whether Drake would speak to his recently revived fued with Kanye West on Certified Lover Boy. The most evident example occurs on “7am On Bridle Path,” which is a reference to Drake’s Toronto address. As you may remember, Kanye shared and then deleted a screenshot containing the addy to Drizzy’s crib—which people kinda already knew for a while now. In this lyric, Drake seemingly takes a shot at Ye, telling him that if he’s got a problem, he should handle it face-to-face, rather than yelling pointlessly into the digital void. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"The Remorse"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Look, me and Lil’ Sandra bagging CDs in the bubble wrap/People recognize me from the TV but I’m done with that”
Here Drake’s reminiscing about the early days, when he and his mom, a.k.a. Sandra Graham, used to hand-package his albums. You may recall that Drake shared a hilarious letter he penned to his mom in 2006, thanking her for “temporarily funding my music and wardrobe.” Back then, he was just wrapping up his run on iconic Canadian teen soap opera Degrassi and attempting to crack the music industry with his early mixtapes. It’s safe to say he’s since reimbursed Lil’ Sandra. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Lyric: “Can’t picture bein’ a hubby, finger too stubby to fit a ring on/Unless Kawhi wanna run it back/Other than that, the strings will be unattached”
It feels like a lifetime ago now, but in 2019 Kawhi Leonard helped lead the Toronto Raptors to the franchise’s first NBA championship. The following year, he skipped town to join the Los Angeles Clippers. Still, the city hasn’t forgotten him, Drake included. Here Aubrey is telling Kawhi that if he wanted to give it another shot with the 6ix, he’d be down. He makes yet another overture to the Klaw in the “Way 2 Sexy” music video, giving him a memorable cameo. Shouts to the Raptors’ global ambassador for putting in the work. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Still Fly” (Drake Freestyle Version)
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Year: 2009
Lyric: "Cuz I see the flame flickerin', ex-girls bickerin'/Got these women jockin' me from Heart Lake Road to Pickering"
This cut from early in Drake’s career is a sensitive subject thanks to the very public beef between Drake and Page, the other local rapper who Drizzy collaborated with on the track. However there’s a Drake-only version out there that’s chock-full of references to Toronto people and places, including this line which uses the metaphor of two of Toronto’s surrounding cities, Brampton in the northwest and Pickering in the east, to illustrate how much women love him. —Josephine Cruz
"Race My Mind"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Posted that pic you sent me, it wasn’t recent enough/How I’m supposed to wife it? You not Ayesha enough”
Clearly, Drake considers Ayesha Curry the platonic ideal of wifey material. Ayesha, of course, hails from Markham, Ontario. Her husband, NBA superstar Stephen Curry, spent quite a bit of time with her in Toronto last summer, checking out some films at the Toronto International Film Festival and even shooting hoops at Drake’s crib. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Deep Pockets"
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Year: 2020
Lyric: “Back when Big Apple sold dreams, I stuck to my own thing”
This is hands-down one of Drake’s most clever Toronto references because of its layered meaning. Before The Boy took over the global rap game, nobody was really checking for Toronto like that, and many creatives felt like they had to go stateside, to New York in particular, to “make it.” Toronto natives will also catch that Drake is paying tribute to Apple, a well-known entrepreneur and dot connector in the city. Apple owned various stores including Big Apple’s World and Apple’s House of Hardcore, and was noted for importing clothing, bootleg DJ mixes, and the like from his hometown of New York (hence his nickname). Drake has mentioned Apple before, on “Weston Road Flows.” —Josephine Cruz
Lyric: “Runnin' round from Laurier to MacKenzie when the city's empty”
Drake never went to either, but he’s shouting out two different GTA schools here—Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, and William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute in North York. And if you were curious, it would take you 30 minutes or so to drive between them on empty streets. —Josephine Cruz
"Girls Want Girls"
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Year: 2021
Lyric: “Ayy, girls want girls where I’m from”
Could Drake be taking a shot at the selection of males in Toronto’s dating pool? If so, that’s funny as hell. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"War"
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Year: 2019
Lyric: “Wassa, wassa, just like the crodie Pressa, I don't do no passa”
Drake has some fun with the literary device known as sibilance on this bar that combines a shout-out to rapper Pressa and his crew Wass Gang, with a sprinkle of Jamaican patois: “passa” means gossip. —Josephine Cruz
Lyric: “Are you dumb or stupid? The wheels on the Rolls is Chromazz, headshot domazz”
In another short bar that packs a punch, Drake shouts out rising rapper Chromazz, while riffing on her name to brag about his chrome wheels on his Rolls-Royce. While it may have become her signature catchphrase, Chromazz didn’t invent “Are you dumb”—it’s a much-loved phrase in Toronto slang, usually used in response to someone doing something unfavourable. “Headshot domazz” is Drake having a little fun and adding “az” to the end of everything, like a real Toronto man should. —Josephine Cruz
Lyric: "Yeah, we just had to fix things, family, 6ix tings, we can't split up"
This is a reference to Drake's reconciliation with fellow Toronto superstar The Weeknd. It's been of public record that Abel was upset over having some songs taken from him to be a part of Drake's Take Care album. Since then, the two have been frenemies for a while, wishing each other success in public while sometimes trading jabs at each other. Drake is saying they make the city stronger by sticking together. —Brian Capitao
"Worst Behaviour"
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Year: 2013
Lyric: “This ain't the son you raised who used to take the Acura at 5 a.m. to go and shoot Degrassi up on Morningside”
Drizzy reminisces on his old Acura again (the same one he paid tribute to on “Underground Kings”) and also gives a shout to Centennial College on Morningside Avenue, the filming location for the classic TV show for which he first became known. The show was filmed inside what is now called the Story Arts Centre. —Josephine Cruz
“The Ride”
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Year: 2011
Lyric: “I haven't been inside Terminal 1 and 3 in so long/I’m driving right up to it now/Make sure you got your coat on”
Anyone who has flown in or out of Toronto’s International Airport, YYZ, should know all about Terminal 1 and 2. This lyric is also a low-key flex, because we can assume Drake hasn’t been to the public terminals in ages since he probably flies private. —Josephine Cruz
"Do What You Do"
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Year: 2006
Lyric: "A lot of dudes in my city, they ain't saying nothing/A lot of records from here, they get no play/and these labels don't give advances so you get no pay"
Although he’s long been synonymous with the city, back in 2007, when he released his mixtape Comeback Season, Drake was still lamenting that Toronto seemed to doom an up-and-coming rapper to obscurity. Safe to say that, thanks in large part to Drizzy, Toronto records are definitely getting more play. —Calum Marsh
"Pound Cake"
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Year: 2013
Lyric: "After hours at Il Mulino/Or Sotto Sotto, just talkin women and vino"
It’s no secret that Yorkville’s classic Italian trattoria Sotto Sotto is one of Drake’s favorite restaurants in Toronto, as it was not only a long-time home of Drake sightings, but the subject of not one, but two shout-outs—both here, arriving at the end of Nothing Was the Same, and on B-side “5AM in Toronto.” Il Mulino, meanwhile, was a staple of Drake’s former neighborhood Forest Hill, but it’s since shut down—presumably unrelated to this reference. —Calum Marsh
“Pain 1993”
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Year: 2020
Lyric: “When I shoot my shot it's the Kawhi way, it's goin' in.”
It’s only right that Drake, global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors, references one of the best buzzer beaters of all time and the shot that advanced the team to the NBA Finals—which they would eventually go on to win. —Josephine Cruz
"Weston Road Flows"
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Year: 2016
Lyric: "You was ridin’ TTC metro, I had the place boomin’”
“Weston Road Flows,” as the title suggests, is rife with references to Drake’s beloved city. This line is a shout-out to the Toronto Transit Commission, the much-loathed transit system that comprises the city’s buses, subways, and streetcars. Of course, no one in Toronto actually refers to the subway as the “metro,” as they do in other cities. But we’ll forgive the gaffe for the sake of the sly rhyme: Drake’s serving a double reference, to producer Metro Boomin. —Calum Marsh
Lyric: “But money can’t buy happiness, Jellee talkin’ truthful”
Drake throws it all the way back to summer 2001 with a “you had to be there” reference for Torontonians and Canadians as a whole by referencing Rexdale rapper Jelleestone’s smash hit from that year, “Money (Part 1).” He even interpolates the song’s famous hook at the end of the track. —Josephine Cruz
Lyric: “Drinkin’ Hypnotiq with Glenn Lewis, I been through it
Drake shows love for 2001 CanCon yet again, this time shouting out JUNO Award-winning Toronto neo-soul singer Glenn Lewis, who gained fame back in the day for his baby-making jam “Don’t You Forget It.” Drinking some of the blue juice with him is just another bucket list item checked off for Drizzy. —Alex Nino Gheciu
"Connect"
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Year: 2013
Lyric: “I take Eglington to 401 East/and exit at Markham Road in the east end”
As has been pretty clearly established over the course of his oeuvre, Drake divided his time growing up between two very distinct parts of Toronto—Forest Hill, the bougie neighborhood where he was born and raised, and Scarborough, where he made most of his friends and spent his days filming Degrassi. This line nicely lays out the routine that brought him from one to the other, showing how Drake identifies himself as a Torontonian. —Calum Marsh
“Pop Style”
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Year: 2016
Lyric: “This sound like some 4301 shit”
This is one of Drake’s most obscure Toronto references, as it refers to a housing complex in Scarborough bearing the address 4301 Kingston Road. He’s never definitively confirmed this, but hardcore Drake fans have surmised that the apartment is home to long-time OVO affiliate P Reign. —Calum Marsh
“Can’t Have Everything”
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Year: 2017
Lyric: “We evolved, used to think vacation meant Niagara Falls/Swear to God, shout to Buffalo”
This is one that many who grew up in the GTA will identify with. The city’s close proximity to Niagara Falls makes it an easy destination for Torontonians looking to get away for the weekend. People may also choose to cross the border into Buffalo for their Trader Joes or American fast food fix. —Josephine Cruz
“Lose You”
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Year: 2017
Lyric: “Queen Street visions that nobody believed in/Fifty-two consecutive weekends, shout out to Weeknd/The city gets stronger when everybody is speakin’, not when everybody out here beefin'”
Drake and The Weeknd have had a famously on-off friendship, with Abel taking might-be lyrical shots at Aubrey as recently as 2019’s “Lost In The Fire.” However in 2017 when More Life came out they must have been getting along, as Drake shouts out his old friend and marvels at their collective chart dominance. —Josephine Cruz
“Do Not Disturb”
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Year: 2017
Lyric: “Might move our annual shit to the 'Dome/I need 40,000 people to see what I'm on”
If you’re really from Toronto, you know that the only name for the quote-unquote Rogers Centre is the Skydome. The “annual shit” Drake is referring to is none other than OVO Fest, which easily sells out the 16,000-capacity Budweiser Stage. —Josephine Cruz
Lyric: "Yeah, used to be at SilverCity, Indigo/Used to be in the lunchroom, playin' dominoes"
SilverCity, Indigo refers to the chain of movie theatres once called “SilverCity,” now bought by Cineplex. The chains were typically adjacent to the Canadian bookstore Indigo. This either refers to the Yorkdale Mall location or the one on Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto. It would really depend on the time in Drake’s life that he’s referencing, since he lived on both the west end of the city, as well as closer to Yonge and Eglinton during his Forest Hills days. —Brian Capitao
Lyric: "Went from Club Palazzo in the Bridge to Club Liv/To not even showin' up at a club unless we doin' biz'"
This is a reference to Club Palazzo in Woodbridge. For those who wanted to party to Top 40 and electronic music, Palazzo was a staple in the GTA for nightclub patrons. What Drake is saying is that he upgraded his party lifestyle from Woodbridge all the way to Miami (one of the party capitals of the world). —Brian Capitao
“5AM in Toronto”
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Year: 2013
Lyrics: “Eatin' like I’m seated at Swish, Sotto, and Joso's”
Drake shows off his foodie side by name-dropping three of his favourite local restaurants: the now-closed upscale Korean Swish by Han, seafood eatery Joso’s, and swanky Italian spot Sotto Sotto. Take Care’s famous cover art was shot inside Joso’s second floor dining room, and he also showed allegiance to Sotto Sotto on “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music.” —Josephine Cruz