It's tea time, in Drake's own words.
Rapping alongside Travis Scott on Utopia's fittingly titled "Meltdown," Drake had some words for Pusha T and, unexpectedly, Pharrell, while referencing the passing of Virgil Abloh and the fact everyone's "hung up" their Louis Vuittonjewelry.
On the track, Drake raps: "Man, fuck all that spinning the narrative shit/I melt down the chains that I bought from your boss, give a fuck about all of that heritage shit/Since V not around the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit/Don't come to the boy 'bout repairing some shit/Don't come to the boy about sparing some shit."
With the "chains that I bought from your boss" line, Drake is referring to how earlier this year he purchased jewelry at auction that previously belonged to Pharrell—including P's iconic skateboard pendant—then infamously wore nearly $3 million worth of the jewerly in his music video for “Jumbotron Shit Poppin.” Meanwhile, Pusha and Pharrell have a longstanding relationship, so the "boss" line confirms the lines are a jab at Pusha.
The "V" Drake mentions is the late Virgil Abloh, who was previously the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection. The position was left vacant after Abloh's death in 2021, but earlier this year, Pharrell was named the new Men's Creative Director of Louis Vuitton.
Drake dissing Pharrell is an unexpected move considering his name has never been brought up previously in the Drake/Pusha fued. What makes it even more awkward is that Pharrell has a production credit on Utopia cut "LOOOVE." P also had a cameo in the video for Scott's single "K-POP."
Drake was spotted with the Utopia briefcase the day before the album dropped, so it's possible Drake waited until the absolute last minute to deliver his verse to Scott. Drake similarly waited until the last minute to send Scott his vocals for "SICKO MODE"—a song where he took veiled shots at Kanye West, who later took offense.
To promote "Meltdown" and evidently reveal he made a giant purchase, petty king @champagnepapi posted a pic of himself holding 2Pac's ring that sold mere days ago for $1 million. On "Meltdown," he also raps "I pull out a million to stare at this shit."
The ring, Sotheby's wrote, was "meticulously designed by Pac and is among the final products of his boundless creative energy." It was also worn by Shakur in his final public appearance and touted as one of the "most valuable hip-hop artifacts" ever auctioned, so it'd be great if Aubrey doesn't melt that one down to spite somebody.
In other confrontational lines early in the "Meltdown" verse on Travis's Utopia, 36-year-old Drizzy divulges, “I love to fuck on a regular bitch/Famous h*es lame but they stay on my dick/Heard your new joint, it's embarrassing shit/You talk to the cops on some therapist shit/You act like you love this American shit/But really the truth is you're scared of the 6."
Later on in the verse, Drake also references the Vogue lawsuit ("You lucky that Vogue was suing"), just like he's been doing on his It's All a Blur Tour with that nightmare-fueling CGI Anna Wintour.
Stream Travis Scott's fourth album here. Drake appears on a stacked guest list that includes Beyoncé, SZA, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, Future, Swae Lee, James Blake, and more.
