I've always been drawn to music that takes me to places I've never been before. It's not that I always like this feeling, but I'm drawn to music that makes me feel. Drake takes me to places I haven't been. Specifically, Drake takes me to the worst, most misogynistic corners of straight dating. Specifically, Drakes new single "Janice STFU" takes me to the moment when a bad date with a boring man turns to a dangerous situation with a entitled mess.

He spends the chorus talking about how cool his car is, along with some sexual innuendos that aren't clever or subtle. The verses make excuses for all his failures and bad behaviors. It all feels like bad conversation looping around. It centers around him, never asking you about you. It's bad conversation with a comicly un-self-aware man. As an older person with more experience, it reads like a man going through the motions of a date so he can get to the sex he feels he is owed. But to the dater, its just a boring man talking too much.

All the time an echo of "Janice STFU" loops occasionally. It's ominous and in indication of what is to come. Maybe he's rude to the waiter. Maybe the way he talks about his ex is really degrading. But what's coming is fore-shadowed.

And then it escalates, until its just the beat and "JANICE STFU". Then it scales back and it ends with a whimper, not a bang. In my telling of the story, I think the dater sees him for what he is and leaves. Or fucks him once and moves on with a story she laughs about every time she gets drunk with the girls. I've heard a thousand stories like this from the straight women in my life. But the catatonic model trapped in his strange mansion in the video paints another picture. One that's a less funny story.

This isn't evidence that Drake's a freak or a misogynist or anything. We don't need more evidence for that, he freely admits it. The way he treats women and underage girls is well-documented. His association with Stake, a crypto gambling platform targeting children is heavily advertised.

What's dangerous about this song is not what he's admitting about himself, it's who gets to tell the story. The context of the Iceman album, on which this song appears, is a heel turn. "Fine, if you don't like me, I'll be the bad guy." Taylor Swift tried something similar on Reputation, to a degree of success. But where Swift used Reputation to get back into the public's good graces, Drake is at risk of going the way of many 'canceled' celebrities. He's likely to realize he is immune to real consequence as long as he serves the interests of the rich. He is at real risk of tying himself up with fascism and lending it even more cultural power. You could argue he already has. And it is working because it bops. It should concern us all.

2/5 stars