S. Samuel
Young Money star Drake has taken pride his heritage to the next level by proclaiming himself as one of the best Jewish entertainers of all time.
Confronted by paparazzi while in the backseat of a vehicle, Drake proclaimed his greatness.
Sandy Koufax … Albert Einstein … Moses … and now Drake?!? D*mn right. “[Would I get criticized for messing up the Canadian national anthem in public?] Yes. [laughs] Because I’m a patriotic Canadian,” Drake told paparazzi. “Yeah. [Who’s a better Jew, me or TMZ creator Harvey Levin?] I don’t know. I’m one of the best Jews to ever do it. Ever in life. [laughs]” (TMZ)
After his parents separated when he was younger, Drake was raised in a Jewish household.
Drake was born to an African-American father and a Jewish mother, who divorced when he was five. Raised by his mother in Forest Hill, a heavily Jewish neighborhood of Toronto, he attended a Jewish day school, and was even Bar Mitzvah’d (the song of the night was Backstreet Boys‘s “I Want It That Way”). All of which is to say that, whatever else happens, Drake is already the first-ever black Jewish rap star. (Heeb Magazine)
Drake also reportedly takes pride in his Jewish heritage.
“I went to a Jewish school, where nobody understood what it was like to be black and Jewish,” he told Heeb. “When kids are young it’s hard for them to understand the make-up of religion and race.” He told the magazine he was often called a schvartze: “But the same kids that made fun of me are super proud [of me] now. And they act as if nothing happened.” He does however, display signs of Jewish pride. According to Heeb, he wears a diamond-studded Chai and wants to travel to Israel. (Jewish Journal)
Already having Grammy nominations and a platinum-selling debut album to his name, Drake penned a blog post this week, expressing appreciation for his dream-like life and career.
“I am truly enjoying my life right now,” Drake wrote Monday (February 7). “Its been so long since I have wrote anything on here because I feel like for a while I was trying to digest it all and save it for the music. But its finally set in that I am living my dreams and doing with all my closest friends from Toronto. I wake up and never know what to expect from any given day but good or bad I always learn something from it. I have decided that I am going to push “It’s Never Enough” and focus completely on delivering Take Care to you all. I feel like my mind is truly ready to make this next album NOW and I don’t want that feeling to escape me. My mother is doing well for all who have been asking. She went to her first swimming class the other day and won gold…not really but you know what I mean. OVO gang is all smiles and 40 is making some of the best music I have heard in my entire career. I am in the airport right now headed to LA to meet up with Boi 1da tonight. Its all feeling right. Its truly been a pleasure to speak again. Thank you for all your energy. Soon. Guidance.” (October’s Very Own)
Check out a recent Drake interview below:
