The best sports references from Drake’s new album ‘Scorpion’

If you’ve been plugged into the internet the past few months, you may have that heard Drake’s new album Scorpion was set to be released on June 29. A torching at the hand of a Pusha T diss track and a Drake statement later, we have 25 tracks of new music, some of which come with sports references.

Drake’s a big sports guy. He’s a fan of just about anybody who has ever sniffed success, making him the ultimate NBA celebrity fan. He entered his final form during the 2018 NBA playoffs.

And he has never held back when it comes to stuffing sports into his lyrics. So here are the best sports references from this latest ting.

Can’t be ignoring the stats / Based off of that / They gotta run me the max, they gotta run me the max / They gotta double the racks — “Talk Up”

Hey, good timing for NBA free agency! Drake implies that based on his previous credentials, he needs a max contract like a hot button NBA free agent — say, LeBron James — and that’s true. If artists were athletes, Drake would get the max. The sports lover in him had to make sure you knew that, because that’s just how Drake is.

They don’t have enough to satisfy a real one / Maverick Carter couldn’t even get the deal done - “Sandra’s Rose”

Carter has been LeBron James’ business manager since 2006. Drake is saying that he’s got so many demands and so much clout that not even Carter, who can get anything done because his client is arguably the best NBA player of all-time, can satisfy his needs.

The line was meant in good spirit, but please, Maverick, hit Drake with a response diss featuring LeBron. It is a surgical summer, after all.

Head on a swivel, I could shoot but I could never dribble / Life too short I gotta get it before they blow the whistle — “Sandra’s Rose”

Ah, yes. As is the story for the majority of people on the planet who have ever picked up a basketball, Drake can shoot, but has zero handles.

Though it’s been proven that he just might not have a jumper, either:

If you know, you know.

That’s just a view from a cheap seat / They don’t want problems with me — “Peak”

OK, we’re going to pretend this is a Kendrick Perkins diss. Drake was feeling particularly brave as the Cavaliers were taking on the Raptors in LeBronto, and got into a shouting match with Big Perk:

If we’re playing along, “view from a cheap seat” is Perk chillin on the bench, because if he was being paid more he’d be on the floor.

But Drake doesn’t want smoke with Perk.

You talk so tough, I know you’re soft like buttercups — “Ratchet Happy Birthday”

We’ll also pretend like that’s a Perk diss, for the fun of it. I also never thought I’d hear “soft like buttercups” in a hip-hop album so this was going in the post no matter what. It’s a line only Drake could conceive.

I just took it left like I’m ambidex / Bitch, I move through London with the eurostep / Gotta sneaker deal and I ain’t break a sweat / Catch me ‘cause I’m going, outta there, I’m gone / How I go from 6 to 23 like I’m LeBron? — “Nonstop”

Let’s go ahead and break this down, piece by piece (note: not an actual annotation):

I just took it left like I’m ambidex — Drake is apparently right handed and would love to be able to switch hands while hooping, but alas.
Bitch, I move through London with the eurostep — Not if you “could shoot but never dribble,” Aubrey.
Gotta sneaker deal and I ain’t break a sweat — Yes, this is true. Drake recently went from Jordan Brand to Adidas while making music from air conditioned studios in various places around the world.
Catch me ‘cause I’m going, outta there, I’m gone / How I go from 6 to 23 like I’m LeBron? — Drake is talking about LeBron leaving Miami and going from No. 6 on the court back to No. 23, but there’s room for a comparison here, too.

6 LeBron = Hip-Hop Drake, whereas 23 LeBron = R&B Drake. So there we go.

Louisville hush money for my young gunners / Rick Pitino, I take them to strip clubs and casinos - “Sandra’s Rose”

Drake is implying that he’s slipping money under the table for gunners to presumably protect him while at strip clubs and casinos. That part we don’t really care about, or perhaps really even believe.

What makes this perhaps the best sports references on the album is that it puts a spotlight on the one team the NCAA wants us to most forget right now after taking away its championship.

Dope article from sbnation.com