I’m 30% Nigerian: Canadian Rapper Drake Declares

Grammy-winning Canadian musician, Drake, got people talking when he shared the results of his dad’s ancestry.

On Monday, May 8, Epiczone gathered that the rapper — born Aubrey Drake Graham — took to his Insta Story to share a screenshot of the results of his dad’s DNA ancestry test, insinuating he is partly Nigerian.

The result, which he said was sent to him by Dennis Graham, his dad, showed he is “30% Nigerian”.

The singer asked if he could finally call himself a “Naija man.”

“This my dad’s results, does this mean I’m a Naija man finally?” Drake asked.

The screenshot also showed Nigeria has the highest percentage of ethnicity followed by Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples, which is 28%, then Ivory Coast and Ghana, 11%.

The results further showed Drake’s father has a multi-ethnic background, including roots in Mali, Benin, and Togo.

The post has triggered a floodgate of reactions from Nigerians on Twitter.

@Basito: “Drake went to do check DNA to know if he has Nigerian root so that when he drops an Afrobeats album, nobody would question him,”

“Drake being Nigerian means he’s likely an Akwa-Ibom, Yoruba or Warri man. Leaning heaviest on him being an Akwa-Ibom man because he has that accent in him despite all the Americanization & then I saw his dad’s image,” another user added.

Drake was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father is an African-American Catholic drummer from Memphis who once performed with country musician Jerry Lee Lewis.

Drake has also collaborated with some Nigerian artistes like Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Tems.