Drake Claps Back at YouTuber Anthony Fantano for Posting Fake DMs
Published Sept. 16 2022, 1:29 p.m. ET
Gone are the days of rappers only having beef with one another. Thanks to social media and the rise of bloggers and YouTubers, some people have utilized these platforms to share their opinions about the rap world today. While some of these opinions are in favor of artists, others come with roasts about their music and pretty much anything tied to them. And unfortunately, it appears that Drake has found himself in the crosshairs thanks to YouTuber Anthony Fantano.
It’s no secret that Drake has had a few feuds throughout the course of his career. However, fans are starting to believe that Anthony’s issues with the rapper are far from just music, and more so personal. And in light of some questionable DMs, the gloves have officially come off for Drizzy. So, what’s the deal with Anthony Fantano and Drake’s beef? Here’s the lowdown.
After Anthony Fantano shared alleged DMs between himself and Drake, the rapper took to Instagram Stories to share what he says are the real messages.
Another day, another feud in the music world! Hip-hop aficionados may be familiar with the name Anthony Fantano. Anthony, who runs the YouTube channel The Needle Drop, is notorious for sharing his opinions on music of various genres.
Over the years, Anthony has been pretty critical of Drake’s music and personality. The music critic has gone on record numerous times sharing that Drake is always “in his feelings,” and referred to him as a “lesbian rapper” among other digs. And while everyone is entitled to their opinion, provoking a person is always the quickest way to level up any beef — and on Sept. 16, 2022, Drake chose violence.
Drake took to his Instagram Stories to post a single screenshot of the DMs he sent to Anthony.
“Your existence is a light 1,” Drake wrote in the DM, referring to the rating system Anthony uses in his reviews. “And the 1 is 'cause you are alive. And 'cause you somehow wifed a Black girl. I’m feeling a light to decent 1 on your existence.”
Why so shady, you may ask? It all started a day earlier, on Sept. 15, after Anthony took to YouTube to share alleged DMs Drake sent him.
“Anthony! It’s Drizzy,” the message began, per HipHopDx. “I know we don’t really see eye-to-eye about music and that you are not the biggest fan of most of my albums (thanks for the kind words on “Take Care” and “If You’re Reading This” tho). But it is what it is, you know. Can always hope you’ll like the next one!”
The message continued, “But I’m not messaging you about your videos. I’m actually messaging you 'cause I found a really great vegan cookie recipe I’d love you to try!”
The rest of the messages went on to share a list of how to make vegan cookies. It’s very weird, but here we are.
Anthony Fantano is not fazed by Drake’s response and has gone on to further troll the rapper.
While most people would believe that Drake sharing the real DMs of his messages to Anthony would quiet the YouTuber, it appears that Anthony has continued with his trolling mission. After Anthony realized that Drake posted the messages, he taunted the rapper on Twitter, along with his fans.
In a slew of tweets, Anthony clowned Drake for allowing Anthony to trigger him enough to share his DMs. Additionally, he made a meme out of the DMs Drake sent that has since gone viral on Twitter.
Of course, Anthony also followed up by throwing more insults the “Honestly, Nevermind” rapper’s way via Instagram Live — from accusing Drake of having ghostwriters to calling his DMs salty.
“He was in his feelings Wednesday night, very late into the evening, I was in this garage lifting some weights when I caught a DM request from Champagne Papi himself, Anthony said on IG Live (per HipHopDx). "I saw the DM request and I looked at it and yeah, it was a bit of a diss. It was a salty little DM, it was quite sad and unfortunate.”
Interestingly Anthony later gave Drake his props for having "bangers" in a tweet. However, we highly doubt Drizzy will even take the compliment for what it is.
Naturally, social media users are split on the beef. While some people find the whole exchange hilarious, others have called out Anthony for being a troll and Drake for even responding to his antics.
What is Anthony Fantano's net worth? His career as a music critic has paid off in the financial department.
As of this writing, YouTuberFacts reports that Anthony is a millionaire. The outlet shares that through Anthony's career as a music critic and YouTuber, he has reportedly amassed a net worth of $1 million, and is said to average 500,000 views a day.
Additionally, the site notes that Anthony brings in anywhere from $2 to $7 from every thousandth monetized view and seemingly earns an annual income of $700,000. So, it's easy to see why Anthony has reached millionaire status. Who knew being a music critic could be so lucrative?
