Drake Gets Candid About Being Labeled a ‘Culture Vulture’

Drake has feelings, too.

In a new interview on Bobbi Althoff’s Not This Again podcast, the “Nokia” rapper opened up about getting labeled as a “culture vulture,” a criticism highlighted on Kendrick Lamar‘s 2024 diss tracks “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us.”

The topic arose as Drake and Althoff discussed their drama in 2023, when they unfollowed each other after she deleted their interview on her Really Good Podcast. He explained they got in a “tiff” the night of one of his concerts, which led to the falling out.

Drake expressed feeling as though he’s “not necessarily part of the problem” in the situation. “I experience a lot of guilt-tripping in my life where people are like, ‘No, this is your fault,’ essentially and my intentions are pure,” he said.

“It’s the same way even in music,” continued the Grammy winner. “People will be like, ‘Oh, you’re a culture vulture,’ or people will describe the collaborative efforts that I’ve put forth, and the artists that I’ve picked up and lifted up or shined a light on as me taking, you know?”

He added, “They’ll put a negative spin on it and try and tell me that it’s a self-serving thing or whatever, and I think I get really sensitive about that.”

In recent years, Drake has collaborated with many up-and-coming rappers and earned criticism from people who think he’s used the artists for clout.

After Drake’s “Like That” sparked his back-and-forth feud with Lamar last year, the “Humble” rapper took shots his way on the song “Euphoria” in May 2024.

Lamar referred to Drake on the song as “a master manipulator and a habitual liar” and took aim at his rap skills: “You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of bеing accepted.”

One month later, Lamar dropped his hit “Not Like Us,” called Drake a “f—–‘ colonizer” in the lyrics and accused him of using other rappers to his advantage.

“You called Future when you didn’t see the club/ Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up/ 21 gave you false street cred/ Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head/ Quavo said you can be from Northside/ 2 Chainz say you good, but he lied,” rapped Lamar.

British rapper Wiley previously called Drake a “culture vulture” in 2019, garnering a response from the “Toosie Slide” artist the same year.

“I hate that people think that me being into music from these kids that are trying to make it and trying to build a name for themselves is like, ‘Oh, that’s some culture vulture,'” Drake told Tiffany Calver on the 1Xtra Rap Show.

“What does that even mean? I don’t understand what that means. Would you rather me not acknowledge anything or support? That’s some real confused hater s—. But it is what it is. I see it a lot,” he added. “I’ll never understand how supporting somebody’s song or even going a step further, giving somebody a song or linking up, I’ll never understand how that is not viewed as something admirable.”