This Is Why Drake Took 3 Years To Embrace Fatherhood

There is no denying that Drake is one of the powerful rappers of our generation at this time. Actor, musician, rapper, entrepreneur, philanthropist — the Toronto-based man has assumed a number of roles over the years. Yet many are hesitant to add “father” to the list, and this is where it gets complicated. 

Drake became a father to a son back on October 11, 2017, but the singer was not totally forthcoming about the phenomenon at first. In fact, we all had to find out about the news through a diss track produced by Drake’s rap rival, Pusha T. Not the most ideal way to spread what is considered a life-changing moment for any human being. 

In the wake of the announcement, many were confused and some were outraged. A millennial celebrity like Drake shares so much about his life online; he is someone who’s always ready to keep his fans in the loop over what’s been happening in his life. 

Yet it took the rapper over a year to even make a reference to his kid and over three years to start talking about it openly. So what’s changed for Drake? We can only speculate but we have to understand everyone’s journey of fatherhood, or for that matter, parenthood is unique. Drake’s story demonstrates that although his experience of fatherhood is unlike anyone else’s, he shares the same anxieties and fears that any parent does in the twenty-first century. 

Drake was accused of “hiding” his son

Although Pusha-T was the one who broke open the story to the rest of the world, he certainly wasn’t the first to discuss it. TMZ ran an article back on May 17, 2017 about how French artist Sophie Brussaux was pregnant with Drake’s child. 

At the time, Drake’s reps dismissed the accusations and described Sophie as having a “questionable background.” Yet in the same statement, Drake also said that if the child was indeed Drake’s, Drake would “do the right thing by the child.” 

Cut to May 2018 when Pusha T releases his scathing rap song about Drake. In one of the verses, he made it clear that he knows much more about the situation than fans do themselves. Some of the lyrics of the verse are as such:

You are hiding a child, let that boy come home… Adonis is your son/ And he deserves more than an Adidas press run, that’s real / Love that baby, respect that girl

Pusha T in The Store Of Adidon 

In just one verse, Pusha launched a harsh indictment of Drake’s behavior, from “hiding his son” to cleaning up his “baby mama” for Instagram. The public was largely unaware of this truth at the point, so many believed that Drake was well and truly was guilty of “hiding his son” in the very least. 

Thus ensued insults and memes about Drake’s shortcomings as a new father. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that celebrities already live in public scrutiny 100% of the time. Every aspect of their lives is left for the media to scour and ravage for the public.

What we need to remember is that celebrities don’t owe us anything about their personal lives. If they indeed want to keep the identity or their existence of their son hidden, then it’s their choice. 

Instead, Drake was “hiding the world” from his son

An intense media blitz ensued around the baby and Drake’s personal life. Yet the rapper remained mum about his child and did not even confirm whether Pusha T’s accusations were true. 

It took him a month to release a brief but telling acknowledgment of fatherhood. Since these guys are musicians and musicians are known to send key messages through song, Drake also spoke about Adonis in one of his tracks. 

I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid.

Drake in Emotionless 

On the same track, Drake discusses that he isn’t one to run to the blogs when something massive takes place in his personal life. Instead, he prefers informing his loved ones, as they’re the ones who truly need to know about his situation. When people question him, “why let it run if it’s false”, he replies that a “wise man said nothing at all,” 

It’s clear from Drake’s honest words that this is a man who won’t jeopardize his son’s privacy to just keep the press satisfied. Being a child of a high-profile celebrity, as luxurious as it may seem, is no easy life: the paparazzi vie for exclusive photos, your development is being watched closely by the rest of the world, and every movement of yours is up for critique and ridicule. 

Drake is certainly onto something when he said that he needed to hide the world from his son because the world indeed can be very critical when it comes to celebrities, especially the offspring that didn’t choose this life at all. 

It took him three years to embrace fatherhood

Drake may have made a reference about fatherhood in that one song in 2018 but it took him nearly two more years again to post his first photo of Adonis. In an Instagram photo posted on March 2030, Drake is seen holding his young son in an embrace. 

The caption of the photo written by Drake is probably the most striking aspect of the post, as he talks about connecting to our inner light. Then he promptly imparts a bunch of advice about moving forward amidst darkness and chaos and how we can find support if we ask for it. 

It’s unclear whether Drake is speaking to his son in his post or he’s addressing the general public, but the truth of the matter is that the quarantine period of 2020 has somehow led him to share a photo of his son. At the end of the caption, he said, “I love and miss my beautiful family and friends and I can’t wait for joyful day when we all reunite,” 

Drake is hardly the first one to come clean about his emotions while self-isolating amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Many of us are longing to meet our loved ones again; it’s in moments of utter loneliness that we realize that we’ve been taking our relationships for granted this whole time. 

Revelations emerge during this period and we begin to realize that so much of our happiness is reliant upon being close to the most treasured members of our life. Drake too found this inner force that told him that the time was right to embrace his status as a father in public. 

When asked why he decided to share a photo of Adonis at this particular point in time, Drake said he just woke up one morning and decided to do it randomly. 

I want to be able to go places with my son and share memories with my son. I don't want to feel like just because of a life choice I made to be, you know, a 'celebrity' that I got to make everybody live under this blanket. I just wanted to free myself of that. 

Drake to Young Money Radio with Lil Wayne

And this hasn’t even been the first reference Drake’s made of his son during this period. The rapper responded to a viral Instagram post saying that if his son ever does insane tricks at a soccer game, he’s “for sure getting fined” by the soccer foundation for “making a scene,” 

It looks like Drake is getting more and more comfortable opening up about fatherhood and is not shy about being a doting dad. 

Your journey as a parent is your own 

While some are posting about their kids on the daily, others are keeping that part of their life private, and some just keep a balance. Drake’s journey in accepting, acknowledging, embracing, and sharing his parenthood is his own and he won’t take anyone else’s advice on it. Our society has often made parenthood a collective issue like it’s everybody’s business to judge you for being a so-called “good” or “bad” parent. 

Remember that you are never alone, and if you need to be reminded of that ask for support and it will show up. everything comes down to intention, and even though there are conflict energies circling around us you must know...it will rebuild.

But we tend to forget that a parent’s relationship with their child is intangible special and undeniably unique. It’s hard to tell why Drake chose to finally share more about his son but he’s hinted that being in self-isolation and away from his loved ones certainly plays a role in engendering emotions of longing and love.

At the end of the day, Drake’s chief concern is his son’s happiness, and like many other parents, he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that. 

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