In a move that can only be described as “Drake-tastic,” the 37-year-old Canadian rapper decided to turn the internet into his personal nostalgia fest by dropping a whopping 100 gigabytes of never-before-seen footage from his archives on Tuesday. Fans were left gasping, laughing, and possibly crying into their OVO hoodies as one particular clip confirmed a long-standing rumor: his 2016 hit “Too Good” was inspired by none other than tennis superstar Serena Williams.
Yes, you heard that right. The song that had us all feeling “way too good” about our exes was actually about a love match between Drake and Serena. The footage, which plays out like a reality show we didn’t know we needed, shows Drake in the studio working on the track while his mom, Sandi Graham, provides some classic mom commentary.
“Do you really need to reference your past relationships in every song?” Sandi asks, probably rolling her eyes behind those big glasses.
Drake, ever the mama’s boy, replies, “I get heavy on a couple joints but this is more about me and Serena.”
Cue Sandi’s mic-drop moment: “I gathered that!”
But the revelations didn’t stop there. Drake went on to explain his songwriting philosophy, which is basically the musical equivalent of “if you can’t say something nice, at least make it catchy.”
“When I make songs about women, I also make songs for them so I know what kind of song to make,” he said, clearly having put a lot of thought into this. “If I’m gonna talk about them, I’ll at least do them the justice of making them a song that they like, okay?”
And because no mom conversation is complete without a reality check, Sandi added, “She is seeing someone else,” subtly reminding Drake that Serena had moved on to Alexis Ohanian, her now-husband and co-founder of Reddit.
Drake’s response? A classic, “I don’t know, mom.”
The clip is a goldmine of awkwardness and endearing moments, as Drake tries to reassure his mom that Serena’s feelings would be spared. “I know Serena very well, and I know that she’ll hear it loud and clear, but she’ll also not hate me for it because it’s lighthearted.”
The backstory adds a layer of intrigue to the song, which features Rihanna, another of Drake’s famous exes, on vocals. “Too Good” was a hit, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and now we know it was fueled by a cocktail of complicated emotions and superstar drama.
For those keeping score, Drake and Serena’s rumored romance spanned from 2010 to 2015, with Drake frequently spotted at her matches and even sending a cheeky tweet in 2011: “@SerenaWilliams I cannot wait to put it on you and make you sweat… during our match this weekend.”
Their off-court chemistry seemed undeniable, culminating in a public smooch caught on camera in 2015. But by the time “Too Good” was recorded, their relationship had cooled, and Drake was rumored to be rekindling things with Rihanna.
Fast forward to today, and the Drake-Serena saga has taken a few more twists. In 2022, Drake threw shade at Alexis Ohanian in his song “Middle of the Ocean,” calling him a “groupie,” because why not keep the drama alive?
Serena, however, took the high road, recently poking fun at Drake while presenting at the 2024 ESPYs. “And if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us—not a single one of us, not even me—should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” she said, with a playful nod to Drake’s feud with the Compton rapper. “He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re gonna Forrest Gump him—’Seats taken.'”
So there you have it, folks. Drake’s 100-gigabyte time capsule not only gives us a peek into his creative process but also spills the tea on his past loves. One thing’s for sure: when it comes to Drake, the story is never “too good” to be true.
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