This morning (June 29), Drake released his fifth album, Scorpion. The YMCMB double-dose release involves a former foe in JAY-Z and includes production from DJ Premier, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul, No I.D., and Drake’s longtime right-hand-man Noah “40” Shebib.

In the last five weeks, Drake has been immersed in several story-lines. Notably, the music superstar was the target of the latest verbal attack from Pusha-T in a series of disses. A response to Drake’s 2016 offensive, “Two Birds, One Stone,” the Clipse co-founder dug in with ghostwriting attacks and Trump comparisons on “Infrared.” Drake returned fire in less than 24 hours. However, the OVO co-founder has had little to say since Pusha’s “The Story Of Adidon.” The song, reworking JAY-Z’s “The Story Of O.J.” took serious shots at Drake’s mother, his father, and 40’s multiple sclerosis. However, even in its title, the song outed Drake as a new parent to a son, mothered by former adult film star, Sophie Brussaux. Pusha’s accusation accused Drizzy of using the birth of his child to market a partnership with Adidas. Previously, Push’ has worked with the apparel company, as has his producer, Kanye West. The attack was said to be a no-holds-barred response prompted by Drake mentioning Push’s fiancée by name in his “Duppy Freestyle” last month.

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On Scorpion, Drake confirms the rumor that Pusha spun, but addresses it with humanity and vulnerability. “March 14” takes the gossip column speculation to a new place. While Pusha-T called Drake “a deadbeat dad,” Drizzy sees otherwise—not without regret. “I’m out here on front lines / Just making sure I see him sometimes / It’s breaking my spirit / Single father, I hate when I hear it / I used to challenge my parents on every album / Now I’m embarrassed to tell them I ended up as a co-parent / Always promised the family unit / I wanted it to be different because I’ve been through it.” He also flipped the “deadbeat” term on Scorpion to say that his only connection to the expression is killing good production. Meanwhile, he does admit being absentee “I got an empty crib in my empty crib / I only met you one time, introduced you to Saint Nick / I think he must’ve brought you like twenty gifts / Your mother say you growing so fast that they don’t even really fit.” Drake says he hopes to make amends with the woman he met twice, in 2017, (“She not my lover like Billie Jean, but the kid is mine“), prompting a reported October birth of a baby boy.

The song “Emotionless” features the lines: “Look at the way we live / I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid / From empty souls who just wake up and look to debate / Until you staring at your seed, you can never relate.” Notably, Pusha-T has no children.

Pusha-T Accuses Drake Of Fathering A Child He Abandoned (Audio)

Drake, who mentor (and Rap-A-Lot Records founder) J. Prince asked to refrain from responding to Pusha, still subliminally addresses his longtime opponent. On “8 Out Of 10,” the MC singer brings up his baby again: “It’s not a matter of could I or should I / Kiss my son on the forehead, then kiss your ass goodbye.” At a time when Drake stood down in Rap beef, he touts that could have annihilated his foe—a claim J. Prince also made.

Although Drake seems to have honored Lil J’s orders, Scorpion is not without its sting. Opening song “Survival” addresses past beef and current, without ever mentioning opponents by name, only association: “My Mount Rushmore is me with four different expressions / Who’s givin’ out this much return on investment? / After my run, man, how is that even a question? / After this summer, man, how is that even a— / I’ve had real Philly ni**as try to write my endin’ / Takin’ shots with the GOAT and talked about shots that we sendin’ / I’ve had scuffles with Bad Boys that wasn’t pretendin’ / I’ve had too many nights to mention, that’s just the beginnin’ / I’m pretty sure we got a label, I’m still independent / I fell back a hundred times when I don’t get the credit / Seen this movie a hundred times, I know where it’s headed / Realize someone gotta die when no one’ll dead it / Ni**as gamblin’ with they life for some content / That’s the type of lottery that could get your top picked / I am a cream-of-the-crop ni**a / You ni**as pop mollies, my Mali’s pop ni**as / House on both coasts, but I live on the charts / I have tea with the stars and I swim with the sharks.” Drake is still sending messages without the war getting uglier or more personal.

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On “Is There More,” Drake announces that he has fulfilled his Cash Money/Young Money contract obligations, making him completely independent. He opens the song with “Only holdin’ up I do is my end of the bargain / Only beggin’ that I do is me beggin’ your pardon / Only tryin’ that I do is me tryin’ the hardest / Only problems I do are math problems with profit / Only lyin’ I do is lyin’ out in the tropics / Only cryin’ I do is cryin’ from laughin’ ’bout it / Only lackin’ I can do is my lack of responses / Only rest that I do is ‘Where the rest of my commas?’” In this moment, the MC owns his non-action to Pusha-T. On his Apple Music editor’s note, the social media/Internet wiz made light of himself too:

Drake knows what peers and skeptics say about him, but he seems committed to making fire—and still offering some “free smoke,” in his unique way.

“March 14” is one of the latest additions to our Spotify playlist. In addition to new music from Drake, the playlist features recent music from Westside Gunn, Nas, Jay Rock, Kanye West & Kid Cudi, Pusha-T, Black Thought & 9th Wonder, Dave East, Royce 5’9 and his group PRhyme, Dr. Octagon, Phonte, J. Cole, Drake, Logic, Kendrick Lamar, Black Milk, Eminem, Lute, Jeezy, Wiz Khalifa, Statik Selektah, Brent Faiyaz, Freddie Gibbs, CyHi The Prynce, Saba, Scarface, Rapsody, Sylvan LaCue, Evidence, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Big K.R.I.T., Nipsey Hussle, and a host of others.

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