Kanye West—love him or hate him, the man is always keeping us on our toes! One minute he’s throwing shade at Drake, claiming he’s holding down the hip-hop scene like a heavyweight champion; the next, he’s singing the Canadian rapper’s praises like he’s the second coming of Elvis. It’s like watching a domestic squabble unfold in real-time, a dramatic soap opera where plot twists are the norm! So, what gives? Is Kanye the ultimate frenemy, or is he just an artistic soul grappling with his own tumultuous emotions? Just when we think we’ve got him figured out—boom, he’s comparing Drake to Steph Curry and declaring his love for the guy! Let’s dive into this whirlwind of contradictions and explore the latest in Kanye’s ongoing saga with one of hip-hop’s biggest sensations, Drake. Buckle up, folks—it’s bound to be a bumpy ride!
Kanye West is an enigma. The rapper has been forthright about his struggles with mental health over the years. Still, it can be difficult to determine where he comes down on a given topic or person. He has been on both sides of multiple arguments, and nobody exemplifies this better than Drake. Kanye West is a big Drake fan, and yet, he’s one of the 6 God’s biggest haters. He championed the fact that Kendrick Lamar beat Drake in a rap battle, but on Friday, he laid multiple compliments on the rapper.
These compliments seemingly came out of nowhere. Kanye West claimed that he “loves” Drake despite insulting him publicly for over a year. “Drake the realist,” he wrote on Twitter. “One of those three though he not fake cool he’s just talented af.” The other two people in the aforementioned list of three was Virgil Abloh and Travis Scott. Kanye West previously insulted the late Abloh, and Scott unfollowed him after the wave of controversial tweets rolled in. Kanye West’s praise for Drake cannot be overstated, though. West was literally championing the rapper’s demise in an interview published days prior.
To be fair, there was a sense of conflictedness in his words. He praised Kendrick Lamar for taking the 6 God down. He lamented the fact that he no longer had an opponent to spar with when it came to putting out music. “I was like, ‘Man, you killed my nemesis,'” he told host Justin Laboy on the Download podcast. “Where’s the movies if it ain’t no Drake?.” The rapper quickly walked back his comment, though, and he claimed Drake could very well make a comeback. “At least he took him down for a little bit. Maybe it’s like in superhero films where characters like Wolverine or something just goes away for a couple films,” West asserted.
The notion of Drake making a comeback is something that surfaced multiple times during Kanye West’s Download appearance. He told Justin Laboy that the 6 God could never fully be counted out because of the way he’s able to connect with hit singles. “You can’t ever count out Steph Curry,” he said, comparing Drizzy to the NBA superstar. “That man might get 200 points in one song.” It’s all very confusing, and we get the sense West isn’t sure what to make of his feelings toward Drake himself.