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Drake’s pink nail polish ignited a firestorm on Instagram. Until he got real with another rapper.

Hip Hop/ Rap Artist Drake performs on stage at the Indiana State Fair on August 13, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Hip Hop/ Rap Artist Drake performs on stage at the Indiana State Fair on August 13, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana Photo: Shutterstock

Hip hop artist Drake shut down an internet controversy with a masterful takedown of fans and other rappers criticizing him for wearing pink nail polish.

Drake has sported color before, as have several other famous rappers, but after a popular Instagram account posted photos of his pink polish, the comments quickly turned homophobic.

While the original post was positive, complimenting Drake’s “fresh manicure” and “nice design,” the commenters quickly changed the tone.

“Started from the bottom now you here huh? SMH,” promoter Rueben Wood commented with several laughing face emojis.

Another left the vicious slur, “Never thought in my lifetime would I see more men wearing polish and purses then females and more women wanting to be truck drivers than men ..upper echelon level of role reversal ….it’s an agenda being pushed on our babies so y’all betta wake tf up.”

“The fact y’all tryna normalize this is WILD to me,” another left.

“Now we gon have to fight men over the gels and glitter,” a different woman posted.

Not all the comments were negative, as some fans pushed back on the slurs and toxic masculinity.

“Yall rlly in the comments crying over nails… like be so f**kin fr,” one person shot back.

Another chimed in as well, “Y’all are so damn homophobic for whaaaat⁉️ These comments ssscreeeeam insecure and toxic masculinity. ‘Men can’t let women have nothing’ huuuuuh⁉️⁉️ Shut up, getting your nails done is not just for women, and it doesn’t make you any less of a man, next callerrrrr”

But Drake got the last word in an Instagram post of his own that included several photos of him performing before thousands of fans. The first picture showed him in the studio and sporting his pink nails.

The caption read, “I don’t mind that we don’t talk. Rather be in your thoughts. Rather be on top of your list of ‘what ifs’ and not your list of ‘and what nots’.”

But when rapper Lil Yachty chimed in to comment to make a snarky comment about Drake’s earrings in an attempt to pile on, Drake had had enough.

“Boy got them heavy hangers in his ear,” the rapper commented.

Drake shot back, “GET OUT MY COMMENTS YOU TOLD ME TO PAINT MY NAILS SO I STOP BITING THEM AND NOW THE WORLD IS BEING HOMOPHOBIC FOR THE 1st TIME SINCE RICH FLEX…which wasn’t that long ago now that I think about it…wait is the world homophobic? Smh.”

Lil Yachty quickly backtracked, replying, “woo-sah brother, your not supposed to have these episodes in public, it’s fine. They just don’t get u bro #UDIFFERENTAF ‼️”

Drake’s reference to “Rich Flex” is about his song of the same name. Several memes were popular at the time that accused him of flirting with featured artist 21 Savage. In one line, he raps, “21, can you do something for me?” and it set off homophobic speculation.

Lil Yachty, along with megastar Tyler the Creator, have their own line of gender-inclusive nail polish that is popular in the community. Tyler the Creator is one of the most prominent out rappers in the industry along with Lil Nas X, who has also sported nail polish repeatedly on social media.

Nas has been out as queer throughout his illustrious career, and in a 2021 conversation with GQ, he said, “I do feel like this newer generation of rappers who are coming in, and the ones who are here, are going to have to reshape their thoughts. Because change is happening. There’s going to be so many gay rappers. There’s going to be more trans people in the industry and whatnot. Ten years from now, everything that I’m doing won’t even seem like it was shocking.”

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