Drake and Serena Williams' history goes all the way back to 2011.
Drake revealed who "Too Good" is really about.
On Tuesday, the 37-year-old Canadian rapper dropped 100 gigabytes of never-before-seen content from his personal archives, including pictures, videos and a few unreleased tracks. Newly released studio footage shows that his 2016 song "Too Good," in which he raps about his "love" for someone being taken "for granted," was written about Serena Williams, 42.
In the video, Drake dishes to his mother, who is off camera, that "Too Good" is about "me and Serena," to which she responds, "I gathered that."
"If I'm gonna talk about [women], I'll at least do them the justice of making them a song that they like," Drake says. "So, I know Serena very well and I know that she'll hear it loud and clear but she'll also not hate me for it because it's lighthearted."
At the end of the clip, Drake's mom reminds him that Williams has already moved on to someone else. Drake brushes it off and responds, "I don't know, Mom." Williams was dating her now-husband Alexis Ohanian at the time of the song's release.
In "Too Good," Drake raps, "Years go by too fast / I can't keep track / How long did we last? / I feel bad for asking / It can't end like this / We gotta take time with this."
The final verse concludes: "And I wanna tell you my intentions / I wanna do the things that I mention / I wanna benefit from the friendship / I wanna get the late night message from you, from you / I put my hands around you / Gotta get a handle on you."
Drake and Williams' relationship -- and potential beef -- goes all the way back to 2011 when he tweeted, "@serenawilliams I cannot wait to put it on you and make you sweat..........during our match this weekend."
He then referenced her in his 2013 track "Worst Behavior," rapping, "I'm with my whole set, tennis matches at the crib/I swear I could beat Serena when she playin' with her left."
Over the years, Drake has been spotted supporting Williams at her matches, including at Rogers Cup and US Open in 2015. That year, TMZ caught them making out. He supported her again at Wimbledon in 2018, a year after she married Ohanian.
By 2022, Drake was throwing shots at the couple. On "Middle of the Ocean," he rapped, "Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don't got a problem but / No, boo, it is like you comin' for sushi."
But Williams has recently thrown shots too. While speaking at a panel at ESSENCE Fest 2024 in July, Williams called Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" the "hit of the summer," seemingly taking Lamar's side of his rap beef with Drake. On "Not Like Us," Lamar name-drops the tennis star singing "better not speak on Serena" as an added jab at Drake.
"I love that song. It's like the hit of the summer," Williams said at the time. "When they play that jam, I'm jamming. That jam is jamming."
Later that month, Williams danced on stage to "Not Like Us" while hosting the 2024 ESPY Awards. "Don't pick a fight with Kendrick [Lamar]," she said at the time.
Williams and Ohanian share two daughters -- 6-year-old Olympia and 1-year-old Adira.
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