“Culture vulture” is not a title to take lightly. Like “cultural appropriation”, the label signals an offensive disrespect for a cultural force. To be a vulture is to co-opt a culture and its traditions and repackage them for monetary gain and widespread appeal. It implies both the manipulation of a new audience and the betrayal of an old one. A vulture forgoes cultural loyalty in favor of success. These accusations have cast a shadow over rap superstar Drake’s career.
Following his highly publicized rap beef with Kendrick Lamar, Drake has faced intense criticism regarding a pattern of grifting towards anti-rap audiences. On June 22, he did a surprise walkout at country singer Morgan Wallen’s tour stop at Houston’s NRG Stadium. While the crowd erupted in applause, this move sparked online debate about Drake’s cultural allegiances. Wallen had previously come under fire in 2021 for being caught on video using racial slurs, making Drake’s association with the singer rather questionable.
The Toronto rapper is no stranger to controversy himself. Throughout Drake’s nearly two-decade-long reign over the rap industry, a constant cultural tension has followed him. Continued endorsements and collabs with problematic figures, such as Wallen and Tory Lanez, tie him to their uncomfortable controversies and lack of accountability. A constant switching of accents and styles within his music reflects not just versatility, but a tendency for opportunism. To many, his values and integrity belong to whatever’s trendy or profitable.
These choices have intensified the culture’s growing disdain for the rapper. Many now view Drake as someone who commodified rap and Black cultural aesthetics, yet now panders to broader, potentially problematic fan bases. In other words, a vulture who is slowly grifting out of the Black community. But is this truly the case?
A Checkered Cultural History
Wallen was not the beginning of Drake’s “culture vulture” reputation. In fact, Drake collaborated with the country star in the, “You Broke My Heart,” music video, despite Wallen’s glaring racial controversy. To some, moments like this demonstrate a lack of cultural integrity. It signals a willingness to neglect immoral behavior that disrespects Black communities in exchange for crossover success with a new cultural market.
Such criticisms extend even further back in his career. Drake is widely known for his musical fluidity and genre-hopping. He’s adopted several accents to his musical palette: the Southern American drawl in tracks like, “Fancy,” the groovy Jamaican patois in dancehall tracks like, “Controlla,” and, “Work,” and even seductive Spanish in songs like, “MÍA.” His fans love his artistic adaptability. Drake prides himself on appealing to different geographic audiences, immersing himself in the sound, and introducing it to the mainstream. A cultural ambassador of sound.
However, many view him negatively because of this genre-switching. His imitating of cultures and ethnicities feels inauthentic and marketed. Many argue that Drake merely co-opts the aesthetics of a sound. He dilutes it to make it more palatable for general audiences while trying to monetize a culture’s sound and trendiness. While his influence gives those communities a popularity boost, his name inevitably overshadows the culture.
Riding Different Waves
People also criticize Drake for riding the popularity wave of younger, trendier artists. Many note how he adopts the style of rap stars like Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, and Yeat. These are all rap figures known for having a broader Gen Z influence in the industry. By co-opting their lingo and lifestyle, Drake can remain culturally relevant with the youth.
In an interview with Billboard, singer-rapper D.R.A.M. accused Drake of a form of plagiarism. He felt that Drake had remixed the rhythm and style of his hit record, “Cha Cha,” to create, “Hotline Bling,” all without giving D.R.A.M. proper credit. While influence and homage aren’t uncommon in music, many fans note that Drake’s song was once introduced as, “Hotline Bling (Cha Cha Remix),” a subtitle that was eventually removed.
While Drake himself provided a public defense, it didn’t fully absolve him of questionable behavior. According to Complex, both, “Cha Cha,” and, “Hotline Bling,” sample Timmy Thomas’ “Why Can’t We Live Together.” However, “Hotline Bling,” only credits Thomas but not D.R.A.M., despite replicating much of, “Cha Cha’s,” rhythm and bounce. Many viewed this move as Drake’s way of copying D.R.A.M. while circumventing any legal troubles. Again, this was another instance of Drake co-opting different sounds and capitalizing on other creative and cultural lanes.
A Beefy Turning Point
Despite years of criticism, Drake’s career withstood the test of time. At least, until Lamar’s volatile diss tracks destroyed Drake’s perceived invulnerability. Songs like “euphoria,” and “Not Like Us,” dragged the longtime culture vulture accusations into the spotlight.
Lamar claimed Drake’s accents were an exploitative mockery of both rap culture and whatever culture he was imitating. In “Not Like Us”, he dedicated a whole verse to deconstructing Drake’s scavenger behavior. He responded to Drake’s previous claim that Lamar makes music, “like he’s trying to get the slaves freed.” This is a deeply problematic perception of Lamar’s conscious lyricism about Black issues. Lamar also accused him of appropriating the sounds and culture of various popular Atlanta rappers like Young Thug, Lil Baby, Future, and more. To him, Drake stitched pieces of Atlanta rap culture to transform himself into a cultural Frankenstein of stolen slang and styles. Worst of all, he accused Drake’s behavior of lacking any integrity, identity, or authenticity.
The culture vulture debates soon spread like wildfire. This was now about Drake’s credibility within rap culture. All of his questionable allegiances, controversial collaborations, and cultural co-opting were now injected into mainstream conversations. The culture was now watching his every move like a hawk, waiting for any action that felt like cultural betrayal.
Post-feud Fallout
While Drake has continued releasing music, many of his post-beef actions have caught a lot of negative attention. Critics have noted Drake’s frequent appearances on large white streamers’ channels like xQc and Adin Ross, while avoiding appearances with large Black streamers like Kai Cenat. He continues to use a flirtatious Spanish in “Meet Your Padre,” a performative display of cultural mimicry that many took issue with. Most controversially, he’s pointed fingers at many prominent Black content creators as being part of an industry scheme to promote Lamar’s, “Not Like Us,” in his lawsuit against record label UMG. He failed to name any white creators, despite having an equal part in amplifying the popularity of “Not Like Us.”
His recent meetup with Wallen is another turning point in these accusations. The question becomes why. Why align yourself with someone whose actions offended Black communities, especially when you are being accused of exploiting Black culture? Regardless of Drake’s intentions, the optics of the situation were damaging. For many, it was a tone-deaf choice that reflected his post-feud attitude. It was part of what they perceived as Drake’s cultural grift towards a broader white audience. He was abandoning hip-hop to a commercially stable audience to salvage his success.
Is Drake Turning On The Culture?
Not necessarily, but many find it difficult to perceive it any other way. Drake built his career on versatility and adaptability. He navigates different genres and trends to dominate the charts. However, in the wake of Lamar’s perceived victory, Drake’s shaky history with cultural appropriation is now viewed with a more intense lens. He now stands at a cultural crossroads with how he wants to save his image from the onslaught of accusations. When you choose to embrace people who have spouted racial slurs or call out only Black content creators in legal pursuits, it sends a message, intentional or otherwise, about the kind of support you value. Whether his appearance alongside Wallen was a one-off incident, the divide between Drake and the values of rap culture has only become more apparent.
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