The reason I say Drake's Canadianness is a different story because it goes beyond him appropriating Black American identity.... It's about him appropriating an American identity period. And truthfully, it is beyond that. Drake has played with Jamaican-Canadian identity, Southern American, East Coast American, pure Yardie, and now he has been dipping his toes into a kind of African vibe.
When you remember that Drake came into the game as an actor, it all makes more sense though.
But the thing that bothers me about this discussion, and how you know it is being driven by really young kids, is the fact that the big issue of "being legitimately Black" or "identifying as Black" seems to come down to
1. who gets to say the N word
2. who gets to wear cornrows
3. who gets cast as black (usually female) characters in movies
I mean... stupid, trivial shit like that. We're trying to talk about the longterm political and social survival of a people and these people are focused on sparking a firestorm on Twitter every time Halle Berry describes herself as a black woman.
And even if you want to just limit it to surface cultural issues... a LOT of shit that is considered "Black culture" is gonna have to be expunged. Like... jazz music? It was created mostly by mixed-race musicians in New Orleans, like Jelly Roll Morton. But since by today's definition Morton ain't black, then why you on Twitter harassing white jazz musicians and accusing them of "cultural appropriation"?
You can't have it both ways.