As if Drake’s 2010 GQ photoshoot wasn’t cringey enough.
Amid his lyrical death match with Kendrick Lamar, the Toronto-born rapper has become the subject of an online roasting campaign led by fans and hip-hop figures. On Wednesday, O’Shea Jackson Jr. got in on the action by sharing an awkward detail about the aforementioned photoshoot, which recirculated last month following the Drake vs. K.Dot diss exchange.
The image in question showed a younger Drizzy pointing his finger gun directly at the lens with one eye shut to emphasize his focus on the target. Although many people mocked the photo as corny, O’Shea noticed there was something off about Drake’s pose and facial expression: “Is he using the wrong eye to aim or am I trippin?” he asked in a retweet.
Well, it turns out, O’Shea was not, in fact, trippin. The picture, shot by Paola Kudacki, showed the OVO boss with his left eye open and his right eye shut. Again, nothing seems wrong at first glance; however, if you look at Drake’s head tilt, you’ll see he was closing the eye that was needed to look through the scope.
O’Shea’s eagle-eye observation garnered tens of thousands of “likes,” nearly 3,000 retweets, and more than 800 comments, including a few from hip-hop heavy-hitters.
“Man I didn’t know you were this funny on here,” wrote Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, founder of Kendrick’s TDE record label.
Other users also got in on the joke while others couldn’t believe this detail went unnoticed for so long.
“Its called Canadian Aiming,” Wizard replied. “This way no one gets hurts.”
The 2010 photoshoot, titled “Check Your Neck: A GQ Dress-Shirt Primer,” began making the rounds last month after Future and Metro Boomin unleashed “Like That,” a chart-topping track in which Kendrick took aim at Drake and J. Cole. The record — a response to Drake and Cole’s 2023 hit “First Person Shooter” — set off a storm of diss track exchanges and unsavory allegations about their respective personal lives.
Although fans are divided on which rapper is winning the ongoing beef, it’s clear the rap world is benefiting from all the publicity. As previously pointed out, the Drake vs. Kendrick saga brought more attention to their discographies and led to a streaming boost. Other rappers have also experienced a streaming increase thanks to playlist sequencing on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
“If someone were to ask who’s winning the battle, I would say that the winners are more likely, Spotify, YouTube and all of the places that are using the conflict for clickbait much more than any of the artists stand to gain,” A.D. Carson, associate professor of hip hop at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, told Commercial Appeal. “… What I’m really worried about are the women who are used as casual punch lines and pawns, and footstools for these guys to show their dominance. Or the folks who are harmed by casual homophobia or transphobia that rappers are lobbing at one another.”
