Drake regrets namechecking exes in songs

LOS ANGELES: Rapper Drake is trying to stop mentioning his exes in his songs because of the lasting impact on their lives.

The 'Hotline Bling' hitmaker said he has two regrets when it comes to his back catalogue, one being "disrupting somebody's life" by mentioning them by name or making clear references to them, and the second being mocking older rappers, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Discussing his song 'Weston Road Flows', in which he raps about retiring at 35, he told Lil Yachty on 'Moody Conversations': "I hate hearing that s***.

"I think that, and sometimes when I've said girls' names in songs, maybe those are the two things that I look back on and I'm like, 'Maybe I could've done without, like, s******* on people for age or disrupting somebody's life.'"

The 36-year-old rapper stressed that "the lyrics are never with ill intent" but admitted one of his former partners had called him out about it once and bluntly told him about the impact his words could have.

He said: "I had somebody tell me one time, 'You know, it's not necessarily what you're saying about me, it's the fact that you said it. You don't know who my boyfriend is at the time, or you don't know what my family knows or doesn't know."

"And if you express any form of discontent for me and call me by name in a song, then all of a sudden I'm left to pick up the pieces of my own life that I've tried to build up for myself."

But though Drake has tried his "best to stop doing that", he admitted it isn't always easy because sometimes he just needs an outlet for his feelings.

He added: "But I like to be honest in music too so that one's a push and pull."

During his career, Drake has recorded several songs fans believed to be about his relationship with Rihanna, and in 2021, he claimed he briefly dated SZA in his track 'Mr. Right Now'.

He rapped of the 'Kill Bill' singer: "Yeah, said she wanna f*** to some SZA, wait / 'Cause I used to date SZA back in '08."

The same year, he referenced a relationship with Jennifer Lopez in 'Diplomatic Immunity'.

The track features the lyric: "2010 was when I lost my halo/2017, I lost a J."