Following the release of his poetry book Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness, Drake has shared a message to the "randomly angry poets" out there.
In a post shared on his Instagram Stories on Thursday, Drizzy appeared to address any potential criticism he's faced from poets over the release of his book, which was co-written with songwriter Kenza Samir.
"Randomly angry poets: blahagaggagegsvachjsksyavsvvehevehebwgabvqvqqvwvwv," he wrote. Alongside the caption he simply added, "Me," and a photo of a shrug from legendary Canadian sex educator Sue Johanson, who passed away on Thursday in Toronto at age 93, per the BBC.
Earlier this week, Complex spoke with some award-winning poets about Drake's foray into the form of literature. MacArthur Fellow recipient Hanif Abdurraqib told Sama'an Ashrawi that he's "not interested in gatekeeping what is or isn’t ‘poetry,’” but wasn't all that impressed by the poems.
“None of these strike me as poems, because they’re not even attempting to push against any unknown in order to offer something revelatory or at least somewhat beautiful," said Abdurraqib. "Some of these are so absurd that they’re actually funny. But it’s hard to tell if he also understands that they’re bending into absurdist humor, and understands that there will be people who find it profound? Or if he’s convinced himself of the profundity.”
Ultimately, Abdurraqib deduced that the release is a "book of puns," or "silly lil' jokes." Houston poet Aria Kian also offered up a review. While a small number of poems were offered praise, Kian said the Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness was essentially "a goldmine of mediocre mic drops."
Even if award-winning poets aren't into Drake's latest attempt to branch out of his comfort zone, at least frequent collaborator DJ Khaled is a fan. "The boy different," Khaled said in a recent video where he read excerpts. "The minute you think you figured out the boy, the man writes a book."
Alongside the release of Titles Ruin Everything, Drake teased that he's got a new album tentatively titled For All the Dogs on the way. "I made an album to go with the book," a statement on the official website for the poetry book reads. "They say they miss the old Drake girl don't tempt me."
The book could just be an elaborate way to push his album, which is being teased after his 2022 solo effort Honestly, Nevermind and 21 Savage collaboration Her Loss. It may, however, be a legitimate attempt to branch out into poetry. After all, where would hip-hop be without poetry?
