Drake Details His Connection To "Top Boy" & U.K. In Rare Interview

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Drake attends the "Top Boy" UK Premiere at Hackney Picturehouse on September 04, 2019 in London, England.
Drizzy steps in front of the camera for a quick interview ahead of the "Top Boy" premiere.

Many have claimed that Drake co-opted British culture in the past. In fact, when it was rumored that he and Skepta would star in the reboot of Top Boy, he was accused of "appropriating" working-class British culture by a writer from The Independent. Many corrected her, citing the general correlations between Toronto and the U.K. 

By now, you probably heard that the rumors of him actually acting in Top Boy aren't actually true but he is the executive producer of the show which returns for its third season on Netflix on September 13th. Ahead of the premiere, the rapper sat down for a rare interview with HeyUGuys where he finally answered the question as to why he has such an attraction and connection to the U.K. The rapper explained that he first got on the show when it was on YouTube and got deep into the show. 

"I got attached to the characters, the story really drew me in. I think there's so many parallels between Toronto and London -- obviously, we don't have the same accent but we speak the same. So it reminded me of people that I grew up with or guys that I know and situations that I've witnessed. So I felt super connected right away," he said. "Then it disappeared on me."

Thankfully, when you're making Drake money, you could afford to bring back your favorite show. After doing some digging and ultimately finding out it was canceled, Drizzy spoke to his manager who also agreed that they should bring it back. Admittedly, buying the rights to Top Boy was initially for his own pleasure but he realized that this story is even more important to marginalized communities in the U.K. as a whole.

Peep the full interview below. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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