“The Story of Adidon,” Pusha-T’s new Drake diss track, features artwork with a photo of the Toronto rapper in blackface.
Now, Drake has issued a statement on his Instagram story stating the image was, “not from a clothing brand shoot or my music career,” he continues, “This picture is from 2007, a time in my life where I was an actor and I was working on a project that was about young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and type cast. The photos represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment.”
Drake speaks on “blackface” photos circulating. pic.twitter.com/y3SrOl9DcQ
— Word On Road (@WordOnRd) May 31, 2018
The company that manufactured the shirt Drake is wearing on the cover released the following statement, via the New York Times’ Joe Coscarelli:
here’s Too Black Guys, the Canadian streetwear brand Drake is wearing in the blackface photos, on those blackface photos… pic.twitter.com/IJ5SzizaSz
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 31, 2018
Shortly after releasing his response to Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle,” Pusha tweeted the artwork with a link to photographer David Leyes’ website. “This is a REAL picture… these are his truths, see for yourself,” he said.
Please stop referring to this picture as “artwork”…I’m not an internet baby, I don’t edit images…this is a REAL picture…these are his truths, see for yourself https://t.co/gd6vRS3HM8 pic.twitter.com/2el58HEZ8F
— King Push (@PUSHA_T) May 30, 2018
In a since-deleted tweet, Leyes asked Def Jam’s EVP Steven Victor to “take the Drake photo down asap.”
What do you think?!
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