Sex and Gender According to Drake

Aubrey Drake Graham. Also known as Drake, Drizzy, and my personal favorite, Champagne Papi. He can arguably be called one of the greatest and most popular hip-hop artists of our generation. Drake has been in the rap game for a while, and it is no secret that he is only getting better with time.

Since Drake has been in the music video for nearly a decade, his fan base has seen different aspects of him and his music. He went from singing semi-romantic ballads, to rapping about having sexual encounters with women. In his music he can be women’s biggest supporter, but he can also be found guilty of over-sexualizing and degrading women, which then promotes the ideological construct of a patriarchal society.

Drake’s music does not necessarily perpetuate a rape culture (a culture that normalizes and accepts rapes as an everyday occurrence) but his music does reinforce some misogynistic practices.

Historically, rap music has degraded women sexually. Lyrics that boast words such as hoe, whore, bitch, and various other terms reiterate the degradation of women in rap music. Rap and hip-hop, however, have also been some of the biggest supporters of women and their struggles.

The song, Marvin’s Room, from one of his earlier albums Take Care, tells the story about Drake incessantly calling a woman that he used to date. He calls her and in doing so, questions her current relationship, and in a way insists that she must still miss him.

The woman that I would try
 Is happy with a good guy

But I’ve been drinking so much
 That I’ma call her anyway and say
 “Fuck that nigga that you love so bad
 I know you still think about the times we had”
 I say, “fuck that nigga that you think you found
 And since you picked up I know he’s not around”
 
 I’m just sayin’ you could do better
 Tell me have you heard that lately?
 I’m just sayin’ you could do better
 And I’ll start hatin’ only if you make me

Calling someone over and over again could be considered a stalking behavior. Bothering someone multiple times like he is doing in this song could be considered harassment. Clearly in this song, Drake is assuming that the woman that is the object of his affection will come back to him if he gives her reasons to. Songs such as this seem to normalize and romanticize a love lost, when in fact it tends to reinforce a patriarchal society, and makes romantic obsession and possession seem normal and wanted by the other party.