The Curious Case Of Drake V. Pusha-T: "Story Of Adidon" Edition

If you're reading this, Drake, it's too late. The long-simmering feud between Drake (née Aubrey Graham) and rapper Pusha-T (née Terrence LeVarr Thornton) erupted last night when Pusha-T released "The Story of Adidon," a track devoted to calling out Drake. Pusha-T embeds a number of accusations against his adversary in "The Story of Adidon." Below, we break down the proceedings.

The Prosecutor: Pusha-T

The Defendant: Drake

The Witnesses: Sophie Brousseux, Kanye West, and Adidas (the athletic footwear and apparel company)

The Filing: In "The Story of Adidon," among a number of fairly average disses, Pusha makes one important allegation. Namely, that Drake has a child with French adult film actress Sophie Broussaeux. The baby boy's name is "Adonis," and Drake apparently (according to Pusha) refuses to acknowledge him.

He raps, "You are hiding a child, let that boy come home/ Deadbeat motherfucker playing border patrol / Adonis is your son/ and he deserves more than an Adidas press run."

In addition, Pusha used a controversial photo of a younger Drake in blackface for the album art. The photo was apparently part of a photo series called "Too Black Guys" from 2008, and, according to an Instagram comment from the photographer David Leyes, Drake's idea. Until recently, Leyes had the photograph on his website, but it has since been removed.

Listen to the full track, below.

The Recent History: This explosive track is a response to Drake's own diss track, a number called "Duppy Freestyle" which addresses a previous allegation made by Pusha that Drake uses a ghostwriter, i.e. is a "dupe." Pusha accused Drake of being a dupe in his track "Infrared," which came out last Friday via his new album Daytona. "Duppy Freestyle" was also released on May 25.

In “Infrared,” Pusha raps, “How could you ever right these wrongs/ When you don't even write your songs?”

Okay. So, in “Duppy Freestlye,” Drake questioned Pusha’s past drug dealing stats. He responds, “Man, you might've sold to college kids for Nike and Mercedes / But you act like you sold drugs for Escobar in the '80s." (While we're here, "duppy" is a term for "ghost" borrowed from Jamaican folklore.)

As part of his “Duppy Freestyle” response, Drake sent G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam, Kanye West’s label where Pusha-T resides, an invoice for $100,000. The reason for payment is listed as “promotional assistance and career reviving.” (Snap!)

The Not-So-Recent History: In 2016, Pusha released "H.G.T.V. Freestyle," which implied that Drake used a ghostwriter (a "questionable pen") and that the rapper wasn't as "real" as his music — "Started From The Bottom," we've all heard it — suggested. Pusha compared Drake to the video game Call of Duty, because his "killings ain't real."

In response, Drake released "Two Birds, One Stone" as a part of his album More Life. In it, he slights not one but three rappers: Kid Cudi, Meek Mill, and Pusha.

"You made a couple chops and now you think you Chapo," Drake asserts, referencing the legendary drug dealer El Chapo. "If you ask me though, you ain't lining the trunk with kilos."

Speaking to Vulture this week, Pusha addressed the ongoing feud.

"I don’t care what people say. Again, [Drake] spoke his truth. He said whatever he felt on 'Two Birds, One Stone.' He thought that he questioned my authenticity to the streets," Pusha explained. Later, he added, "I feel like I was questioned. My truth was questioned, and I’m gonna deal in truths all summer long. If everybody wanna deal in that, then I have no problem with that, I think it’s great. Think the world needs truth."

The "Truth": This doesn't, however, mean that Pusha's allegations about Sophie Brussaux are true. TMZ reported last year that Brussaux herself alleged that Drake was the father of her child. TMZ shared a series of text messages, allegedly between Drake and Brussaux, in which Drake asks her to get an abortion.

"You do know what you're doing you think you're going to get money," one text, allegedly from Drake, reads. At the time, Drake denied the child was his. A representative for Drake told TMZ at the time that Brussaux had a "questionable background."

"We understand she may have problems getting into the United States," the rep added. "She's one of many women claiming he got them pregnant." This is why, in "The Story of Adidon," Pusha says Drake is using "border patrol" to avoid Brussaux. Drake's rep declined to comment when contacted by Refinery29.

The blackface photo is another messy element. The drama surrounding the image continues to mount, even as it disappears from the internet. Pusha originally shared the photo on Instagram, but it has since been removed — by Instagram, not Pusha, which implies that perhaps Drake used his sway to ask the platform to remove it. Pusha's tweet, though, remains.

As for the Adidas collaboration that Pusha mentioned, Drake has yet to work with the brand, although it has been rumoured. Veteran music journalist Touré claims that "Adidon" is the name of Drake's forthcoming Adidas collaboration. It does sound like a clumsy portmanteau of "Adidas" and "Adonis."

"Pusha has, in effect, screwed up Drake's brand before it came out," Touré told the outlet. Therein lies the truth: Pusha-T won, if only because he may have broken an embargo announcing the Drake-Adidas partnership. There's sticks, there's stones, and then there's breaking an embargo. Nothing was the same.