Drake’s “certified lover boy” character has left the chat. Perfectly, fairly. That change-ego, the confront of his sixth studio album, wore his emotions on his coronary heart-shaped hairline. On the history, he was missing in the whims of previous romances and turned that heartbreak into exhaustingly petty verses. That essence lingers on his most current For All The Canines album, which sees the rapper sprinkling in subliminal disses (and at times, unserious a single-liners) across 23 tracks. Some enthusiasts feel he’s throwing shade at his older flames and pals, together with Rihanna. Let us examine.

The alleged shot appears on the album’s fourth keep track of, “Fear Of Heights.” In the opening verse, Drake cockily scoffs at rumors that he’s “still hung up on” a past relationship. Even though he does not reveal the girl in issue, his recurring use of the word “anti” — the title of Rihanna’s 2016 history — feels a bit much too on the nose.

He raps:

“Gyal just can’t ruin me / Better him than me / Better it is not me / I’m anti, I’m anti / Yeah, and the sexual intercourse was typical with you / Yeah, I’m anti ‘cause I experienced it with you.”

After flipping the word to rhyme with “auntie,” Drake then seemingly throws shade at Rihanna’s longtime boyfriend, A$AP Rocky. He raps, “That gentleman, he however with you / He can not leave you” and bets the duo goes on “vacation to Antilles.” The location fall feels specific to Rih, as her house country of Barbados is positioned in the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

The alleged messiness doesn’t quit there. On the Frank Ocean-sampled opener “Virginia Seashore,” Drake coos: “Drawin’ conclusions like you acquired a Parsons degree or somethin’ / I coulda addressed you far better, which is ridiculous.” Certain, there’s hundreds of graduates from the Parsons Faculty of Structure — but the most well-known a single? Sure, it’s Rihanna. In 2017, the singer received an honorary award from the art university for her “powerful songs and unique design,” per Dazed.

While the doable “Virginia Beach” subliminal didn’t capture fans’ ears, the Anti repeat did. Just one fan pointed out the shade wasn’t too astonishing, as Drake throwing shade at Rihanna is an “ongoing trope in his music.” In the meantime, many others considered the verse was “mid” and laughable, thinking about their marriage finished in 2016. The duo at first achieved in 2005, 3 years right before Rihanna commenced relationship Chris Brown.

Just after her highly publicized breakup with Brown in 2009, Rihanna continued her friendship with Drake. Their on-and-off romance started off that similar yr, and for the next 10 years, the duo gave listeners hits, uncomfortable times, and a lot of shade. As a remaining conclusion to their link, Rihanna reportedly explained to Vogue in Could 2018 that she and Drake have been no longer buddies. Nonetheless, it appears Drake and Rocky are still on excellent conditions, which tends to make the alleged shade a lot more perplexing.

The two rappers were by now pals just before Rocky started his partnership with Rihanna in 2020. That status seemingly didn’t shake, as the couple — who share two sons, RZA Athelston and Riot Rose, with each other — reportedly attended an function that Drake hosted in April 2021. At the time, a source instructed E! On line that “there’s no bad blood” amongst the a few and that Drake “likes A$AP.”

Perfectly, these new lyrics feel to paint a different story.