Drake Talks ‘Worst Behavior’ Video, Says He Was ‘Hesitant’ To Return To Memphis

Toronto has never seen a more patriotic hero than Drake. Yet the video for the 27-year-old rapper’s energetic new single “Worst Behavior” reveals an often overlooked side of Drizzy’s family ties, venturing to the Memphis hometown of his father, Dennis Graham.

All of the trademarks of Tennessee’s largest city are there, from Willie Mitchell’s storied Royal Studios to seafood spot Captain D’s to the wildness of Beale Street. Yet despite spending his childhood summers in Memphis, Drake says he’s been “hesitant” to return to his old stomping grounds.

“My family is like two different worlds and I feel like people only acknowledge one half of it,” Drake told VIBE following the Charlotte stop of his Would You Like A Tour? run. “I have a lot of family that I love very deeply [in Memphis]. But if anybody knows anything about the South and how it is, it’s tough to go around people who could use your help and you can’t help everybody. It’s like a guilt or a burden that comes over me, so I hadn’t gone to Memphis in a long time.”

The 10-minute “Worst Behavior” video, co-directed by Director X and Drake himself, makes up for Drizzy’s time away, as it features seemingly a complete half of his family tree (including his mustachioed dad and suited-up uncles, who open the flick) standing outside of his grandmother’s house.

“I kind of refused to address my real thing that I have there, which is vast family,” said Drake, who addresses how success has put distance between himself and his Memphis kinfolk on “Too Much.” “It’s always going to be tough—it was tough during the video. You want to see everybody do well… Instead of running from it, I just embraced it and shot this incredible, beautiful video with my beautiful family and helped out as many people as I could while I was there. Now I can’t wait to go back.”

Make no mistake, though—the Toronto Raptors global ambassador still puts on for his native land, pairing Three 6 Mafia’s Juicy J and Project Pat with his Canadian cohorts OB O’Brien and Ryan Silverstein for a hilarious skit in the middle of the video (the OVO bros have a similar interlude during the “Started From The Bottom” vid). Yet Drake hopes the country-fried visuals will help paint a more complete portrayal of his background.

“It’s going to be eye-opening for people,” said Drake. “I’m sure people will try and challenge me, but it’s gonna be something for people to see, like, ‘Man, this is crazy. I didn’t know shit was like that for that guy.’ Maybe it explains a little more.”

Drake’s third studio album Nothing Was The Same struck platinum last week, marking his third LP to sell more than one million copies. —John Kennedy