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Drake · S1 E3
Forest Hill
A Black kid in an affluent Jewish neighborhood. Private school, bar mitzvah, never quite fitting in
First day of school in Forest Hill, Toronto. Aubrey Drake Graham looks around the classroom and counts zero other Black kids.
Drake and Lil Durk in "Laugh Now Cry Later," the title that sums up Drake's entire childhood: fitting in at school, falling apart at home. Shot at Nike World Headquarters, the video shows Drake at the absolute top, but the kid inside still remembers counting zero Black faces in the classroom.
Laugh Now Cry Later ft. Lil Durk (2020)
Produced by Cardo, Yung Exclusive, and DY, "Laugh Now Cry Later" rides a triumphant horn-driven beat that sounds like a victory lap. But the title tells a different story. Drake has always been the kid who learned to smile through discomfort, and this song is the grown-up version of that survival skill. Lil Durk's verse adds weight, rapping about real loss behind the bravado.
Forest Hill, Toronto
The school where Drake was one of the only Black students, surrounded by mansions and country clubs in one of Canada's wealthiest neighborhoods.
TAP TO REVEAL: Did Drake really have a bar mitzvah?
“I went to a school that was mostly Jewish. I had a bar mitzvah, I played in a Jewish basketball league. And then I'd go to my dad's side of the family and they'd be like, "Why do you talk like that? Why do you dress like that?" I never felt like I belonged to either world.”
— Drake, interview with GQ, April 2013
From Time (feat. Jhene Aiko)
From Nothing Was the Same (2013). Drake looks back at the experiences that shaped him over a warm, nostalgic beat by Noah "40" Shebib. Jhene Aiko's hook floats through the track like a half-remembered childhood memory. This is the song where he finally makes peace with feeling like a permanent outsider.
From Time, Drake ft. Jhene Aiko (2013)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Drake looks back at the experiences that shaped him, finally making peace with feeling like a permanent outsider. Jhene Aiko's hook floats through like a half-remembered childhood memory.
What Toronto neighborhood did Drake grow up in?
Every day after school, Aubrey walks back to the same place: a basement apartment with a low ceiling, leaking pipes, and windows barely above the sidewalk. Next: the room where Drake's story really starts.
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