After Drake released his new album For All the Dogs, social media users started to speculate that he was throwing shade at Rihanna on his song “Fear of Heights.”
Chances are, this is not what Rihanna‘s fans came for.
After Drake released his new album For All the Dogs on Oct. 6, some social media users started to speculate that he was throwing shade at RiRi on the track “Fear of Heights.”
“DRAKE IS DISSING RIHANNA?!?!???” one follower wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Added another, “Not Drake sending shots at Rihanna?!???” A third noted, “Drake shoulda just called Fear of Heights Rihanna cause wtf.”
While the rapper doesn’t name any names in the song, his lyrics are raising eyebrows.
“Why they make it sound like I’m still hung up on you?” Drake begins in the song. “That could never be / Gyal can’t ruin me / Better him than me / Better it’s not me.”
But these aren’t the only words on the track to draw attention.
“I’m anti, I’m anti,” he continues, with Anti just so happening to be the name of Rihanna’s 2016 album. “Yeah, and the sex was average with you / Yeah, I’m anti ’cause I had it with you.”
And the song doesn’t stop there. “I had way badder bitches than you, TBH,” Drake later adds, with some listeners thinking he was taking a dig at the Good Girl Gone Bad star before seemingly referencing her partner A$AP Rocky. “Yeah, that man, he still with you, he can’t leave you / Y’all go on vacation, I bet it’s Antilles.”
Near the end of the track, he also raps, “He might take you on trips and he might have some hits / But, baby, not more than me.”
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
However, Rihanna’s fans quickly came to her defense and encouraged her to keep shining bright like a diamond.
“Rihanna ended her relationship with Drake years ago,” one social media user wrote. “Since then she’s started her own makeup line, had a family, and got nominated for an Oscar. I promise you she’s not worried about that man.”
“It’s been years and rihanna now has two kids with asap,” another added, referencing the Fenty Beauty mogul’s sons RZA, 17 months, and Riot Rose, 2 months, with A$AP Rocky. “Drake needs to rest.”
Rihanna and Drake go way back—with them first sparking romance rumors in 2009 and collaborating on hits like “Work,” “Take Care,” “Too Good” and “What’s My Name?”. In 2016, the “Hotline Bling” artist professed at the MTV VMAs how the “Umbrella” singer was “someone that I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old.” But in 2018, Rihanna confirmed to Vogue that the two “don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either.”
The “Take a Bow” artist hasn’t publicly addressed Drake’s new song. But shortly after For All the Dogs dropped, the Degrassi alum spoke about the album—and he didn’t hold back on how he feels.
“How can I describe this album to you?” Drake said on SiriusXM’s Table for One. “I’ll keep it short and sweet: Please don’t ask me what I feel if you can’t handle the real. That’s it.”
He added, “I apologize in advance. That’s probably the ultimate album title, too. To all my exes, I’ll tell you one thing: You know the value of every purse, but you definitely don’t know the value of hard work. God bless you all though. I hope that these songs are songs that you can enjoy and you can tell people that they’re about somebody else.”