You either love Drake or you hate Drake. That’s the best way to sum up the OVO artist’s status in the music industry. For those who love him, they will undoubtedly go up against any critic with a laundry list of reasons why he is the greatest. Likewise, for those who don’t like him, they will return with an equally long list about why he’s a “culture vulture.” While Drizzy doesn’t always waste his time listening to what critics have to say, he told Tiffany Calvar of BBC’s “1Xtra Rap Show” on Saturday (April 13) that he is a bit disheartened by the culture vulture label.
“I hate that people think that, like, me being into music from these kids who are trying to make it and trying to build a name for themselves, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s some culture vulture.’ What does that even mean?” Drake said of the label. “I don’t understand what that means. Would you rather me not acknowledge anything or support? That’s some real confused hater sh*t. It is what it is. I see it a lot. I’ll never understand how supporting someone’s song or going a step further and giving someone a song, linking up, I’ll never understand how that’s not viewed as something admirable.”
Drake is currently overseas on the European leg of his Assassination Vacation Tour. Although the “God’s Plan” artist has made it a point to bring out popular, native artists like J Hus, Krept & Konan, during his sets, some other artists haven’t been too receptive to the gesture. U.K. grime rapper, Wiley put Drake on blast ahead of his BBC interview, calling him a vulture.
“It was Wiley that said that,” Drake said of the incident. “I just said his name cause I felt like that was some goofy sh*t. But yeah, I just didn’t like that. Like what are you talking about?”
Further along in the interview, Drake also addressed the accusations that he uses a fake accent. “It’s actually funny because I think when I first came in the industry, I think I felt this pressure to ‘be American’ and sound American,” he explained. “I think now that we are all so proud to be from Toronto, we start talking more like how we talk.”
Wiley has since responded to Drake’s comment on Instagram, saying, “If what I was saying was wrong you would [have] stayed silent.” Watch Drake’s full statement in the video above.