The day is finally here, when Drake lets us all back into his inner circle with the release of his fourth studio album Views. And no sooner do I have my foot in the door than I have some questions — namely, who is "Keep The Family Close" about? It's the first track on the album, and it comes in real hot with a new attitude from Drake. He's always been introspective, but one thing that he seemed constantly able to rely on was his close group of family and friends. But, with "Keep The Family Close," we get a hint that there's some trouble in paradise, as he seems to be drifting away from someone he used to consider a ride or die. So who is it?
Normally I wouldn't be this pushy, but there are some pretty serious lines in this song that suggest something really big went down, so I want to get to the bottom of it.
All of my "let's just be friends" are friends I don't have anymoreHow do you not check on me when things go wrongGuess I should've tried to keep my family closerMuch closerAll of my "let's just be friends" are friends I don't have anymoreGuess that's what they say you need family forCause I can't depend on you anymore
By my reading of these lyrics, whomever it was that Drake drifted away from is someone he used to consider "family," so that narrows the field considerably. The main theory I see out there, and the one I'm jumping on board with, is that "Keep The Family Close" is about Nicki Minaj. Drake and Minaj were not only close friends, but also collaborators, working on songs as far back as Black Friday's "BedRock" in 2009, and as recent as 2014's "Truffle Butter," from The Pinkprint, and are even rumored to have dated on and off for a while. But whether that's true or not, they had a respectful, platonic, supportive relationship that seemed all the more unshakeable by the way it held up even under the rumors of Minaj and Drake's romantic history.
But then Minaj starting dating Meek Mill, and Meek Mill and Drake started feuding, as we all know, and the rumor is that Minaj and Drake haven't really talked since. Which honestly makes sense, because if your boyfriend and one of your best friends can't get along, it's impossible to be in the middle; you really have to make a choice. All these factors suggest to me that Minaj is a likely candidate to be the subject of "Keep The Family Close," but, in case you need more convincing, the Views rapper actually left us a little clue in the past: Drake called Minaj family on The Ellen Show in 2013, saying, "Me and Nicki are like family. I love Nicki with all my heart, [but] we haven't really shared, like, an intimate moment."
In contrast, when speaking about Nicki during a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Drake admitted that the two didn't speak much anymore, but that "it's always love." This is really disappointing to me, considering how much I love their friendship, so if Minaj is really the subject of "Keep The Family Close," then I hope she and Drake mend bridges soon.
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