"More Life, More Everything": Drake's Relational Place

Abstract

Throughout his career, rapper and singer Drake has been intrinsically connected to place, specifically his hometown of Toronto, Canada. However, upon the release of his 2017 playlist project More Life Drake's music began to demonstrate global influences. Using Massey's theory of relational space, I provide a contextual analysis of Toronto and Drake as well as an analysis of his song "Madiba Riddim". Ultimately I establish that Drake's music demonstrates Massey's theory of relational place by representing the global and local relationships that occur within Toronto as well as outside of it and that give it a unique sense of place.