Drake dropped a family bombshell as he revealed his father Dennis Graham has cancer in lyrics of his new song Make Them Cry.
The 39-year-old rapper dropped three albums on Thursday including Iceman, Maid Of Honour and Habibti.
In the track Make Them Cry which is found on the Iceman album, the music artist unveiled his 71-year-old dad’s heartbreaking health update.
‘My dad got cancer right now, we battlin’ stages,’ he could be heard rapping at one point in the opening song on the LP.
‘Trust me when I say there’s plenty things I’d rather be facing (For real)/And this time, ask me to dig deeper, I’ll gladly explain it.’
His family is further referenced in the track with lyrics such as: ‘I know for sure that my parents, they look at me and see an overcomer/I’m looking back at them and these days, I see an older couple.’
Drake, 39, dropped a family bombshell as he revealed his father Dennis Graham, 71, has cancer in lyrics of his new song Make Them Cry; seen in 2017 in Las Vegas
He further opened up about other battles that he is facing as he rapped towards the end of the track: ‘I’m ’bout to turn forty, dog, I’m battlin’ aging.
‘I’m battlin’ the fact that the album ain’t even drop and already they a**es complainin’/F*** it, I’ll battle the label/F*** it, I’ll battle the majors.’
Drake continued, ‘I’ll battle the stations ’til my a** is back in rotation/Shout out to the real fans that knew what I had in the basement/Shout out to the fake fans, I thought we had an arrangement.’
During a past interview with Variety in 2019, Graham reflected on his own music influences which include Otis Redding and how he shared those influences with his son.
‘Yeah, he knows everything I know. He knows all the music that I came up with, he had to listen to.’
He then gave insight into a special memory he has with Drake when the music artist was younger.
‘We used to take 18 hour drives down to Memphis every summer, we would take turns listening to his music and my music.’
Graham further recalled, ‘He turned me on to rap music and I turned him on to my music. We switched off in the car.’
‘My dad got cancer right now, we battlin’ stages,’ he could be heard rapping at one point in the opening song on the LP; seen in 2025 in London
‘We used to take 18 hour drives down to Memphis every summer, we would take turns listening to his music and my music,’ Graham said; Drake and his father seen in 2021 in Malibu
Drake’s father is no stranger to the music industry.
Graham is a drummer who had previously performed with Jerry Lee Lewis. And back in 2019, he also released a song titled That On That.
‘Drake was the first one to tell me, “Dad, I love that song.” He sent me a text message actually,’ he also told Variety.
Graham further gushed about his son while talking to The Fader in 2016 and said, ‘Drake is such an entrepreneur. He knows every in and out of the music business.’
He expressed that his ‘services weren’t needed’ when the rapper entered in the industry.
Drake ‘was extremely smart about what he was doing and knew every step that he was taking,’ his father proudly shared to the outlet.
In regards what his son has learned from him, Graham replied, ‘I think he learned how to be humble, down to earth, to be real, or 100%. To just stay focused and do his music.
‘To not let all the hype and the media get to him or to make him react to some of the stupidity of what goes on in the music business.’
Drake ‘was extremely smart about what he was doing and knew every step that he was taking,’ his father proudly shared to the outlet; seen in 2019 in Las Vegas
