Drake's Copium Freestyle "Fighting Irish" Analysis

I'm not even going to say "Happy New Year" again because it's the third day of the year, and this is my third video. I normally don't record this much, but you know, it's winter break. I teach in a couple of weeks, and also, there's just a lot going on right now. So, I'm going to talk about the "Fighting Irish Conductor Freestyle" by someone whose stage name is Drake.

Her birth name is Anita Steak Graham, and I’m going to be talking about this just because I can. You know, my wife got me this new setup, and it's pretty sweet. It means I can record basically anytime, and it looks pretty good. I want to talk about this song, and when I do, I want to celebrate it a little bit because I’ve been nervous. I mentioned this yesterday: 2024 can't get any better for us rap commentators and culture observers like myself. The Joey Badass thing seemed to indicate that maybe we're going to continue emphasizing the art over the commerce of rap music.

You know, that would be a really awesome thing. This new drop, this leak, this whatever the hell this is by Drake, is proof that we might be back in silly season. We might be back in full-on horse hockey town, just indulging in absolute nonsense all the time. This might be less sophisticated and possibly less interesting than great art, but it's very, very entertaining. So first of all, I want to address the fact that this was allegedly a leak and not intentionally released. Listen, Drake is famous for releasing accidental leaks on the Internet that he actually means to.

And of course, you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about push-ups, you know. He didn't initially release that, and then he took it down. So he lets all sorts of things out that he wants to show people and then takes them away as though he wasn't trying to show them the whole time. So I'm going to take this as a very real song.

I'm going to treat it as an actual attempt to do whatever it is he's trying to do. I will be discussing many references. I'll be talking about Wile E. Coyote, Malcolm X, Mean Girls, and Shaggy. Zoinks! Not that one.

So, first of all, this is a weird thing, you know, because I got this little Conductor Williams Lego set. I got two—one for me and one for my son—and I didn't think I would be using it this much this year. But this is now two days in a row that I'm discussing a song produced by Conductor Williams. I want to say that I still think Conductor Williams is one of the best producers in the world. I think he's amazing, and I think this is a great beat.

I thought it was with Joey Badass, but I'm a little scared. Because, okay, let's be honest: Conductor gets the best out of Drake. I think their mixture goes really well.

And he is able to get something out of Drake that I don't usually get out of him. So I'm not upset with them working together. But I am afraid of the Drake stink. The Drake stank. The taint.

Drake's taint. I'm afraid of Drake's stank. The Drake stank. The taint. Drake's taint.

I'm afraid of Drake's taint. Like, Drake taints people who are too close to him. We saw that with Lil Yachty. I love Lil Yachty. I think he's great, but a lot of people have been sort of yelling at me, saying, "How can you hate that Drake lover?"

And J. Cole, even. The thing I'm supposed to be doing, the thing I've been preparing for a couple of days, is my 2014 Forest Hills Drive first listen review that I'm going to be doing pretty soon. Stay tuned to the channel. Today is my 2014 Forest Hills Drive first listen review that I'm going to be doing pretty soon. Stay tuned to the channel, subscribe, subscribe, smash the like button, all that stuff. He's got the Drake taint on him.

And now I'm afraid that the conductor might be. I'm just a little bit scared. But anyway, we'll have to see. It's a good song, I think. As far as a rap song goes, you know, he has one rhyme scheme and he follows it all the way through to mixed results, but generally positive. It's not super polished.

I don't think it's supposed to be super polished as a neutral observer. I'm not really trying to dissect it, and I'm not mad at Anita Steakgram for being the person that he is or doing the things that he does. I can say it's a fine song, but there are a couple of things to note. One thing is that people call this a diss track. This is not a diss track; this is what the kids might call a cope track.

Okay? I'm going to go through not all the lyrics, but most of them. I'll read them to you because there's not that much—only a couple of minutes.

And I'll sort of divide them into parts, you know? Part one is "copium." If you don't know the term "copium," it originated from internet slang, apparently from 4chan, so I guess they did do some good things there. I'm going to provide a definition from Wikipedia: a metaphorical opiate, taken in order to cope with a loss or disillusionment, often leading to one becoming detached from reality and in denial of their situation.

This whole beginning and most of this song is just Drake hitting that copium pipe. You know the live streams of him where he's just gambling, where he's paid to gamble, and he's paid to get other people addicted to gambling. I'm not done with you by a long shot, Drake. You know that? And he's got the shisha.

Let's pretend instead that he's got that little pipe and he's just smoking on copium. The summer is over. I missed it. Did you, Drake? Did you miss the summer where you lost?

Did you not show up to the game that you lost? Barrel with smoke and I kissed it. The world fell in love with the gimmicks. So, okay, there are a couple of things. One: to call Kendrick Lamar's success gimmicky when those gimmicks produce songs that are simultaneously the most popular songs of the year, Grammy-nominated, and universally acclaimed—songs that have shifted the culture entirely in a different direction—if that's just a gimmick, that's already a cope. Or, as your kids might say, "cap." It's like, dude, don't call it a gimmick. And second of all, let's say it is a gimmick.

And then, second of all, let's say it is a gimmick. Hip hop is a competitive art, as I mentioned yesterday. You know? If someone is beating you with gimmicks, you still have to beat them. In my high school days, I did not study.

I did not read books. I read one book throughout high school: *Frankenstein*. That was it. I used to read Shakespeare, and I would skip the speeches because I thought they were boring.

So for me, Shakespeare was like, "Hark, I have arrived. Good to see you, dear sir. Skip, skip, skip. Till the next day then, be merry. Skip, skip, skip."

Till the next day, then. Be merry. Skip, skip. So I wasn't a good student. What I was good at was combat games—fighting games, video games, you know?

And I remember one day, my friend Ben and I were playing Street Fighter II, and he played as Guile. For some reason, he figured out a way to do this flying knee kick, where his knees were tucked up under his legs, and nobody could beat him. None of us could win. We had about eight people over at the house, and we were all playing, but we just couldn't defeat him. It was a gimmick, but he won. He was the king of Street Fighter II that day.

And so, you know, that taught me something. When I learned how to play Mortal Kombat II, I noticed that often in Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat III, people who don't know how to play will just use the sweep kick, which is the easiest move to perform and might even lead to a win. What do you have to do? You have to learn how to counter the gimmick. I used to love going to Tommy's Pizza. I would put down my 50 cents and play for an hour on that quarter because people would come up and try to sweep kick me, and I would beat them.

Drake, he did not sweep kick you, but even if he did, you have to learn how to get around it. Alright, so anyway, that's just gimmicky. Right off the top, this sounds kind of like sour grapes, as if I guess I lost. I totally missed it. I missed the summer.

But if I did see the summer, then it was a gimmick. It was cheap. It was cheap. Oh my God, it's cheap. Seriously, it reminds me of when I would lose games and I was too competitive and too immature.

That's cheap, man. Just get better. Even my brother got tickets. Okay, this is where things are getting interesting. I mentioned Malcolm X, and I'm just referring to the expression he used after JFK was shot.

He said the chickens have come home to roost. By that, he meant that the violence that the white American power structure has visited upon the world has now come back to itself. So, the chickens have come home to roost, essentially saying that we deserved that pain, right? It's very controversial—one of the most controversial things he said.

I just bring that up. He didn't invent the phrase, but he did popularize it. It's like Drake saying, "The chickens are coming home to roost." I mean, if all your songs are about your friends being fake, listen, I'm not the biggest Drake fan. I've reviewed, I don't know, eight or nine Drake albums.

I don't know how many I've reviewed. I've reviewed a lot. Almost all of the songs about friendship focus on fake friendships and how they don't work. So, are we supposed to really feel it here? And listen, man, it's your brother.

I feel it. I don't know. I've listened to a lot of people talk about this. I've watched some commentary. I probably watched all of "Chilling with Moni." I really enjoyed her commentary on this.

I don't know. I've been kind of watching. This isn't quite as much fun as Joey Badass's stuff. But, you know, a lot of people are saying this is about LeBron. Okay?

I'm like, I get the pain, Drake. I understand the pain stake, you know, because it feels like this was your brother. Except I, as many people watching this know, watched eight hours of your streaming. I saw you streaming with Aiden Ross. I saw you meet this man for the second time, maybe the first time in person.

And over the span of a couple of hours, you've told him on multiple occasions, "Drake, he was your brother." This 24-year-old child—okay, this 24-year-old, MAGA-loving, white supremacy-platforming, shill of an empty person—is your brother. You put Aiden Ross on the same plane as LeBron motherf***ing James. I don't care if I'm a Celtics fan, okay? I respect LeBron James.

I respect LeBron James on and off the court. Even if I didn't respect him off the court, I would still respect him on the court. And even if I disliked the man, I would not claim he's my brother and then refer to Aiden Ross as my brother. Brotherhood, my friend, does not mean anything in your music, or it means very little. When you call someone "brother," it should carry weight and significance.

It is transactional, and transactional friendships are not real friendships. That's a lesson that is hard to learn. I've learned that lesson; I have.

I had transactional friendships. You remember, Jonathan, freshman year? You know, you were nice to me, and you kind of taught me how to skateboard and stuff. But, you knew I would always take you to Papa Gino's, and you knew I'd always buy. You were nice to me, and you kind of taught me how to skateboard and stuff. But, you knew I would always take you to Papa Gino's, and you knew I'd always buy, you know.

And then you stole some of my CDs, man. Not cool. I used to make fun of you for being short, so actually, I was a jerk. I deserved it. But you know, that was a transactional friendship, and I learned that it wasn't a real friendship. "The Heart Part 6" by Kendrick Lamar is a perfect example.

Why I was so brilliant on GNX is that he's explaining what non-transactional friendships are like, even though he's talking about people in the industry like Dave Free and Schoolboy Q. He is discussing real brothers, real people who are actually in his life and who are genuinely close to him. These are the kinds of friendships that Drake refuses to embrace and pretends to have by calling everyone and anyone he can make money with "brother." The chickens have come home to roost. If you call everyone a brother, then you have no brothers.

That's for you too, Hulk Hogan. It seemed like they loved every minute. He's so bitter. Just know that this is personal to us and wasn't just business. That's the problem, Drake.

Remember your new brother, Aiden Ross? Do you recall how you referred to Aiden Ross as your brother on stream multiple times? Do you remember that, Drake? Because I remember it, and I just mentioned it after seeing it again. Words have meaning, and things get recorded, and you called this man your brother.

I also remember when he said we should stream more. You just laughed and said, "In order for us to do that, they're going to have to not just pay us millions; they're going to have to pay us billions." That's what you said, Drake. That's what friendship is. That's what brotherhood is for you. It is not personal; it is business.

That's the whole point. Your friendship with LeBron was business. That's what it was. So don't go crying about it. Analyzing behavioral patterns is somewhat suspicious.

What does that mean? How is it suspicious to analyze behavioral patterns? That's a useful thing to do. That's how we learn to navigate the world. If you don't analyze people's behavior patterns, you will constantly be surprised and perhaps hurt, you know?

So, you have a boss at your job, and you don't analyze his, her, or their behavioral patterns. Then, you end up getting fired because you didn't pay attention to the fact that one time you came back from lunch five minutes late. They noted it, but you didn't really care. You kept showing up five minutes late for lunch, just hanging around. You didn't really care; it was just five extra minutes on your cell phone. Whatever—you were just goofing around. And then, you're out of a job because you weren't analyzing behavioral patterns. That's what we do; that's what we have to do, right? Drake was never happy for me when I racked up the digits or when I was breaking world records as I guzzled a Guinness. Sure, they were.

People were commenting on it. I feel like everyone was saying, "Oh, Drake did it again." Say what you will about the guy, but he has a lot of success. Or when I get my fifth Maybach because the color is different. So what is it, Drake?

It sounds like you're complaining, right? It's a complaint; it's personal; it's a whining song. It's so sad—he's so sad he's been betrayed by his brother, who means so much to him because they're good at basketball, because they're good at what they do, and because there's a financial advantage to being friends with them. You don’t like me because I have too many Maybachs, but where do the Maybachs come from, Drake? Where do they come from?

It comes from Lucy and Grange. It comes from the stranglehold you have on the music market. It comes from your vampiric ability to collaborate with people and steal their essence. And now it all comes from Eddie Craven, your Australian gambling baby daddy, whom you're going to go visit during the Super Bowl. It's awesome. I think it's great.

You guys are going to have a little romantic week together, traveling all over the place. Did I mention Mean Girls? Because now we're going to get into the Mean Girls time. Okay, listen, this is awfully gendered.

Okay. In my experience, teenage boys and teenage girls are equally petty with each other. It's just that teenage girls are more overt about it. You know, they're less likely to be seething and angry; instead, they're more likely to explain their feelings and be more demonstrative. That's why I'm calling this a "Mean Girls" thing.

Remember we were trading watches, and I gave you that Arabic dial, and you gave me a numbered edition? Dude, I understand. Teenage relationships are tough, you know? Remember when we went on a date, and I gave you my letterman jacket, and you gave me a friendship bracelet that you made at camp over the summer? And you were like, "What is this?" It's like, what is this, exchanging watches with friends? I'm sure whoever is listening is supposed to be like, "Oh, damn, did I do that to my brother?"

But I would just be like, we're just a couple of rich douchebags with too much money, not knowing what to do, just giving each other money. You know what I mean? For how much money that is worth to him, that'd be like me going and buying you an iced tea at 7-Eleven and then writing a song about it, saying, "Remember when I bought you the Arizona iced tea at 7-Eleven and you bought me a bag of sour Skittles?" You would even check up on my son like a pediatrician. Man, just a little piece of advice.

Don't use any words that start with "p-e-d," Drake. Just avoid them; you don't want us thinking about those words. For example, if you're on a bicycle, you can say that you move the wheels instead of saying you pedal. Okay? All right.

And then this is what you get—super wild. Sure, convinced the gang that the situation was rooted in love when it isn't. Show me how different we are. Those are blessings, a juxtaposition. Now you and the boys abandon your summer tradition. Cold shoulder in the Hamptons?

Did it come with the distance? So he's talking about a party in the Hamptons and feeling like he got the cold shoulder? Like, Kimberly was at the party, and it was kind of awkward because, you know, we both like Tommy. I asked him out first, and he said no, but she knew that I liked him and asked him out anyway. They dated for a couple of weeks, and now Tommy likes me. So we're at the party together, and she just gave me the stink eye. She was looking at me like, "Hmm," the whole time.

Do you know Kimberly? I just can't stand her. I received a text about this. Okay, that's what this is. You're at a party, and you're getting the cold shoulder while putting it in a wrap.

Now let's put this in a larger context. This is in the context of—what's his face? What's the name of the immoral individual we're talking about here? Anyway, the White Party is hosted by one of those billionaires. He is one of the billionaires who is interested in starting a TV show about him.

See my last Drake video about that. What's interesting is this billionaire, and you can tell me in the comments. I don't know; I don't remember his name, but Aiden Ross mentioned it. Drake was like, "Why did you say his name?" God, I really need to remember this name now. What was the name of the guy?

Anyways, let's just come up with a fake name—Mr. Envelope, okay? Mr. Envelope said, "Why'd you say that name? Why'd you say Martha?" Because it must be that Drake has really been thinking about this guy's party, this guy's white party in the Hamptons, where he got dissed by somebody, ignored by somebody.

I figured we were always going to be close, like ovens and kitchens. Ovens are not close to kitchens. This speech is about prepositions, okay? Usually, they are prepositions of place: at, above, next to, beyond, beneath, below, okay? At, with, okay?

"And 'close' is one of those, so good. Ovens are in kitchens, okay? They are not close to kitchens. That's the wrong preposition. It doesn't work."

It would be like saying we were close—close like steering wheels and cars. It's like the steering wheels in a car; that doesn't make any sense. I was sadly mistaken. Loyalty wasn't a given. Yeah, I know it wasn't a given because you have transactional friendships. You are proud that all of your relationships, except for the one you have with your mother, are transactional. You will say over and over again the lyrics, which I will not forgive you for, where you talk about being with women, giving them money, and then dropping them off in public housing because it is purely transactional. The chickens have come home to roost. If you are going to talk about transactional relationships, you are going to suffer from them when you hit bottom. And then you cry the blues, saying it wasn't malicious, while talking about family.

Well, I'm not the cousin to visit. God forbid we ever tarnish your public image and all that brother talk, as if I really discovered a sibling. Again, brotherhood, brotherhood, brotherhood. I want you all to remember, every single time, every single time Drake says the word "brother," I want you to see Aiden Ross with his MAGA hat interviewing Donald Trump and understand that is his brother—not LeBron James, not 21, okay? That's his brother, Aiden Ross Graham.

Six degrees, my memories retrieve in our humble beginnings. I wanted trouble, grabbed the shovel, dug up some ditches, and covered my body in dirt, but that wasn't me. That wasn't me. That wasn't me? I said I’d be talking about Shaggy, not Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. I’m talking about Shaggy the reggae artist who wrote the song called "That Wasn't Me." Obviously, this is a reference to "That Wasn't Me," you know, because Kendrick is from Toronto, which has a very large Jamaican population. He very clearly has a great love, a genuine love, of reggae and Jamaican culture.

It is one of my favorite things about Drake, and I'm not being ironic. I think it's great the way that he tries to put that on, even if I don't like the accent. Here's the problem, though. In the song "That Wasn't Me" by Shaggy, it was him, not Maggie.

You caught me buck naked, screwing on the bathroom floor, or whatever. I can't sing the whole song; I have it stuck in my head. But the whole joke is that it actually was him. Going back to this whole idea of "It wasn't me; that was a body double," we've done dozens of switches.

This is the weirdest thing I've ever heard. So, he got metaphorically killed, and he is saying that he was not metaphorically killed because he had a body double. You can't be alive if you are metaphorically killed; it can't be a body double because your essence was killed. Your presence, your influence, and your place in culture were killed. Like, the body double metaphor doesn't work.

That's why one of the GIFs, one of the thumbnails I might use, is just Wile E. Coyote completely flattened, saying, "That wasn't me." You know, like, yeah, okay, so like, Roadrunner painted on the side of the wall, and I thought it was a road, so I just ran as hard as I possibly could and cracked my skull in five different places and had my brain seeping out of my ear. But that wasn't me. I didn't lose.

You can't have a body double and a metaphorical death. And even if we're trying to accept this whole thing, just because you're saying you're not dead doesn't mean he didn't kill you, you know? I tried to light up the front gate. It wasn't for Christmas. I said a prayer that morning for Sean, and it wasn't religious. I guess this is about his compound being shot up, but that has nothing to do with anything. I mean, that's a sad thing, but that has nothing to do with anything as far as I can tell. Rapping is over for now; it came like a sudden decision. I don't give an F about you snakes or these other musicians. So, is he trying to say that two days after he drops the "Heart Part 6," the song that launched this channel into the stratosphere, okay? I had 70,000 subscribers before that song; I had a hundred after. Okay, so I am very thankful to Drake for "Heart Part 6," but two days after that was when the compound got shot up. So he's now trying to say that he retired from the battle because of getting shot up, not because "Heart Part 6" was the worst song. The biggest white flag started messing with my family, and I'm going to prison, and we all crashed down together as my brother's complicit. So again, just growing this whole thing—like, you can't talk about families; it's off-limits.

It's not like I don't talk about families. I've never talked about families. I never said Whitney's name in any of my songs, and if I did, it was my body double who was rapping. My body double was texting with Millie Bobby Brown. My body double was groping 17-year-olds.

You know my body double is a groomer. Don't worry about me. Who, me? I'm Anita Max Wynn. I'm not Drake.

And then he has that line about putting the pipe on it, which was an exhibit. I just happened to recently rewatch that episode of *The Boondocks* with the exhibit. I had to spend an extended period explaining to my teenage daughter what "Pimp My Ride" was. She said, "Oh, yeah, I saw a live sketch about it." What’s interesting here is he says, "I’ve got to remember what to do with this if it comes to fruition." Because this image also, I think, is about what to do with this if it comes to fruition.

I think this image might also be trying to connect us to "Casino." "Casino" is a fascinating story; it's my favorite Scorsese movie. I just started my Letterboxd account and realized that it's my favorite Scorsese film. I absolutely love "Casino." It starts off with Bobby D's car blowing up.

And it starts off with this line while the theme from "Contempt" by Godard is playing: "If you love somebody, you gotta trust them. There's just no other way." And that's the thing—Drake can't trust anybody, and therefore he doesn't love anybody.

Who's got the most to lose, and who's in that other position? That's a weirdly phrased sentence. Signal conversations, boy. I hope they've got that double encryption. I hate to see the empire crumble on judges' convictions.

Just why? Why? Why would you say "judge"? Why would you say "court"? Why would you say anything?

Again, just as you should not use any words that contain the sound "peed," you should also avoid anything related to the court system, as the entire world is against you on that. This, um, pulled a rabbit out of a hat, and you all love a magician. It's amusing to see you rejoicing, hugging, and kissing. So the pop-out was a rabbit in a hat. Not like ours was a rabbit in a hat.

Euphoria was a rabbit in a hat. The Super Bowl was a rabbit in a hat. The best rap album from one of the best years for rap ever was a rabbit in a hat. If this is magic, if this is gimmicks—Drake, dude, you need to go to the Magic Castle, you know? You need to figure this out.

What are we celebrating? Renting out the club in addition? That's so sad. So he's saying that he won't let us celebrate; he'll rent out the club. He's saying he will use his money to make sure that nobody gets to celebrate.

I will rent out the club and just sit there by myself, playing slots on my phone while smoking my copium and drinking my alcohol. The next time, bury me in gold; my blood is Egyptian. The Dennis James comes out when the vodka has flooded my system. I don't have a drinking problem. Hey, who says I don't have a drinking problem?

People with drinking problems. I never say I don't have a drinking problem because it never comes up. I've got a subtle addiction. I think he's talking about gambling, which, of course, I'll never forgive Drake for, considering he is sponsored by Stake.com. He is trying to get as many people as possible addicted to class warfare against the poor.

He's trying to keep as many people poor as possible by supporting stakes. Never forgive him for that. I've inherited my father's habits and have my mother's permission. I don't know. Are you a psychologist?

Is there a psychologist who’s watching this video? Chat, can you tell me what’s going on here? I’ve inherited my father’s habits, and I have my mother’s permission. That’s one of the weirdest things I’ve ever encountered. I’ve called him a weirdo before, but that’s a particularly strange situation. My dad has another child who told him that she isn’t my sister.

What is going on, droid? You're falling apart. What does that mean? My dad has another child who told him it wasn't my sister. That's mean.

Of course it's your sister. What does that mean? I grew up with dozens of Jews out of left field. You know how Kendrick told him, "I don't want to hear you say the N-word anymore"? Like, if I were Jewish, I'd be like, "I'm not sure I want to hear you say 'Jews' anymore."

The way he says, "I grew up with dozens of Jews," is awkward. Churches with dozens of Christians... It's like he sounds like Mitt Romney. I have binders of him.

And I also developed a deep respect for the Muslim religion. Like, all right, dude, what about Hinduism, huh? What about Buddhism, huh? Have you looked into the tenets of Zoroastrianism, Drake? Huh?

Are you a bigot? What is this? And then he goes, "Okay, so hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I'm ready. I'm ready."

"Drake stans and Drake fans who are watching this and hate my guts, I got you, okay? Explain to me the logic of this. I had another child whom I told wasn't my sister—religious, religious, religious, religious. I'm Black. Okay? You can just go ahead."

You tell me how this is structured and not just absolute garbledygook. I'm staring at my daddy while you all tell me I wasn't that n-word. That is a demonstrative adjective. Okay. That's what that word is.

It's to point things out—demonstrative, like to show. Okay, I, Mr. Gets Sunburnt in a Snowstorm, am not going to be the person to talk about this. I'm just going to say that I think he wanted to use an indefinite article as opposed to a demonstrative adjective. I think we're entering what's considered the "dirt" territory here, as things are actually really interesting regarding how he's using this word and what he's trying to convey with this sentence, because that is not what he means. But I don't want to get more into it.

But I invite people who should be talking about this to discuss it. Because that's a very weird line. So those are my thoughts. It got kind of spooky there at the end. I don't know if I'm going to have to go back and edit.

I don't think I said anything I'll regret. Maybe I did. I don't know if I'm going to have to go back and edit. I don't think I said anything I'll regret; maybe I did. I don't know. Alright, well anyway, my daughter is finishing up her college essays. Is any of you applying to college right now? If so, do your parents a favor and just finish.

I need to figure out what the camera is on my new setup. There's the camera.