Pre-dawn shooting at Drake’s Toronto mansion and ‘The Great Rap War’ – What to know

Forget about “The Drake Curse” and sports bets gone wrong… Bullets flying in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the superstar hip-hop artist’s luxury estate in one of Canada’s most exclusive neighbourhoods, is a big deal in the world of rap.

RIP Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G, Pop Smoke… and Takeoff from pioneering hip-hop band Migos who was shot and killed in 2022 in a Texas dice game gone horribly wrong.

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Police investigating shooting at rapper Drake’s mega mansion

According to Toronto police, one of Drake’s security guards was standing outside the massive wrought iron gates at the entrance to the rapper’s mansion on The Bridle Path road north of downtown Toronto, when suspects in a vehicle opened fire at about 2am.

The guard was rushed to hospital suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, and remains in serious but non-life-threatening condition, according to police inspector Paul Krawczyk of the city’s guns and gangs unit.

“I cannot confirm if Drake was home at the time the incident occurred, but I can tell you that we are in contact with his team and they are cooperating,” Krawczyk told a news conference outside the home.

The suspects fled in the vehicle, he added. No descriptions were offered.

Despite several security cameras pointed at the Drake’s sprawling estate, as well as nearby properties and the street itself, Krawczyk said police were facing “video quality issues”.

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Drake, Kendrick Lamar and ‘The Great Rap War’

The 37-year-old Drake, known for hits such as God’s Plan and Hotline Bling, claimed the coveted crown of highest-grossing rapper in the world last year.

He is currently “facing off” against fellow rapper and Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar in what Rolling Stone Magazine has dubbed “The Great Rap War”.

with the two artists exchanging “diss tracks” which is of course nothing out of the ordinary in the music genre of hip-hop.

According to Daily Mail, Drake and Lamar’s recently reignited feud comes after the pair was originally friends, collaborating and touring together between 2011 and 2013.

While their previous exchanges have focused on the usual diss disputes – such as which man is the bigger star – lyrics in tracks released by both artists over the past few days had an especially nasty ring to it.

The long-simmering feud between the rap titans, escalated into allegations of paedophilia, abuse and infidelity over the weekend.

The Californian rapper also accusing Drake, who is from Canada and of biracial heritage, of being “not a colleague” but a “coloniser” of Black American culture.

Watch and listen: Drake vs Kendrick Lamar diss tracks

In his track Not Like Us, Lamar specifically raps  about “certified paedophiles”, referring to allegations that Drake sleeps with underage girls.

The Grammy winner responded with his own song The Heart Part 6 on Sunday in which he denies these grooming allegations.

The Heart Part 6 marks Drake’s fourth diss track. He previously dropped Push Ups (Drop & Give Me 50), Taylor Made Freestyle and Family Matters.

For his part, Lamar has released euphoria, 6:16 in LA, Meet the Grahams and Not Like Us.

Too early to tell

There was no indication that the shooting had any relation to the rap rivalry though.

At the press conference following the shooting, Krawczyk said he was aware of the beef between the two artists, but at this stage, there was no indication that the shooting had any relation to the rap rivalry.

“It is so early in the investigation that we don’t have a motive at this time, and so I cannot comment further on that.”

• Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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