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Drake · S1 E2
Dennis & Sandi
His parents' divorce, his father's move back to Memphis, and a kid left behind in his mother's care
It is 1991, and five-year-old Aubrey stands in a Toronto doorway watching his father load the last bag into a car pointed south toward Memphis. The phone will ring less and less after today.
Drake's short film for "Jungle," shot in Toronto, captures the city's cold beauty and quiet loneliness. This is the visual texture of Drake's childhood: empty streets, basement windows, and a kid navigating a world that feels too big and too small at the same time.
Jungle (2015)
Produced by Noah "40" Shebib, "Jungle" is built on a warped vocal sample that sounds like a lullaby playing through water. The beat is sparse and cold, mirroring the Toronto winters Drake grew up in. Drake's voice is mixed low and close, almost whispered, like he's telling you a secret he hasn't told anyone else. The short film by director Karim Huu Do places Drake back in the neighborhoods of his childhood, turning Toronto itself into a character.
Sandi Alone
When Dennis leaves, Sandi does what she has to. She stretches a teacher's salary to cover rent and groceries, picks up extra work where she can, and makes sure her son never misses a day of school. The apartment is small and the money is tight, but the lights stay on.
TAP TO REVEAL: What health crisis was Sandi battling while raising Drake alone?
“My parents split when I was about five. My dad moved back to Memphis. It was just me and my mom from that point on.”
— Drake, interview with Rolling Stone, October 2011
Too Much (feat. Sampha)
From Nothing Was the Same (2013). Over Sampha's haunting vocals, Drake gets brutally honest about his mother's health, his father's absence, and the guilt of leaving home to chase fame. The line about getting his mom a condo while she's still in the basement lands like a gut punch.
Too Much, Drake ft. Sampha (2013)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Over Sampha's haunting vocals, Drake gets brutally honest about his mother's health, his father's absence, and the guilt of leaving home to chase fame.
Which family member became Drake's father figure after Dennis left?
Sandi makes a decision that changes everything. She moves Aubrey out of their neighborhood and into Forest Hill, one of the wealthiest and whitest zip codes in Toronto.
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