Unpacking Drake’s long-standing obsession with Kim Kardashian

Obsession over famous women is nothing new with Certified Lover Boy, Drake. Over the years, he’s had a pretty strange infatuations with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Jorja Smith and Rihanna. But more recently, there’s been one star on his mind more than most: Kim Kardashian.

Over the weekend, a preview of a new Drizzy track believed to be titled ‘Rescue Me’ featured a sample of Kardashian discussing her divorce with ex-husband Kanye West. The track appeared on the latest episode of Sound 42’s The Fry Yiy Show on SiriusXM Radio, and understandably, the sample stole the headlines. 

“I didn’t come this far, just to come this far and not be happy. Remember that,” she said in the clip, which comes from the series finale of Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2021. Obviously, the line’s inclusion is interesting, to say the least, given Drake’s history with Ye. 

The two rappers beefed for over three years but were able to (supposedly) settle their differences in November 2021 – but given Ye’s character, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have a change of heart after hearing this track. While Drake could be using the sample as a reflection of the track’s lyrical content itself, given his track record, he could easily just as much be attempting to be an agent of chaos.

The biggest talking point online that arose from that notorious beef is the number of times Drake referenced Kardashian, no matter how subtle. The musician has always been savvy regarding the rumours surrounding his name, and in 2018 fans speculated that the star once had a relationship with Kardashian. The gossip became so viral that Kardashian herself had to come out and dispel the rumours, stating, “Never happened. End of story.” And while you may have expected Drizzy to slow down on lines that could pertain to Kardashian in any way, he’s done the complete opposite.

In 2021 the Toronto native released his hit song ‘Wants and Needs,’ where fans believed he hinted at sleeping with Kardashian. “Yeah, I probably should go link with Yeezy, I need me some Jesus / But as soon as I started confessin’ my sins, he wouldn’t believe us,” he rapped. While Yeezy clearly relates to Ye, some fans wondered whether the “sins” related to being romantically involved with Kardashian. Of course, this could just be a coincidence, but given Drake’s history of subliminals, who knows?  

Things went quiet for a year until the release of his music video for his number one Billboard hit ‘Way 2 Sexy,’ from his 2022 album Certified Lover Boy. In the visual, a group of four models are lounging around while promoting a fragrance called “Wet by Drake.” However, fans were quick to notice that one of the women in question looked extremely like Kardashian. The model in question is called Gallienne Nabila, and in a repost of the scene on Instagram, fans continued to point out the resemblance between her and Kardashian. In isolation, probably not a big deal, but the multiple jibes against Yeezy on other tracks on the project had fans pretty confident it was a reference to Kardashian.

Then in December 2022, when Ye was in the midst of one of his infamous Twitter tirades, the rapper accused Kardashian of having an affair with Phoenix Suns basketball player Chris Paul. While the news was fresh, Drake took to social media, posting an image alongside Paul wearing one of his journeys, and understandably, the internet saw it as too big of a coincidence not to be a diss. “Psychological warfare,” one fan captioned the photo.

But let’s just assume that Drake had no ill intentions behind any of those actions, and they are all coincidental. Even if that’s the case, it’s difficult to believe that Drake isn’t smart enough to know that fans wouldn’t jump on the rumour mill and associate them all with Kardashian. And while it may be all an elaborate plan to get back at West, it’s still admittedly strange to see him continue to use Kardashian as a chess move even in 2023. But, hey, we could always be reaching — it’s just important to remember this is Drake, after all.