First he became a man. Now, he’s a high school graduate. That’s right, people: Drake, born October 24, 1986, has fulfilled the requirements needed to graduate high school. We’re verklempt, really.

97% on my final exam. 88% in the course. One of the greatest feelings in my entire life. As of tonight I have graduated high school!

— Drizzy (@Drake) October 18, 2012

It must have been hard for Drizzy to concentrate on that final, what with Shyne—fresh off his rant against Rick Ross’ Black Bar Mitzvah mixtape—getting all up in his business about his lack of street cred. The Orthodox Jewish deported rapper and Mitt Romney supporter told MTV News, “I would really prefer Drake to sing about girls and sing about being a good kid from Canada and whatever that entails.”

Mazel tov, Aubrey. Next stop Degrassi: Drake: the College Years.

Related: Watch: Drake’s HYFR Bar Mitzvah Wins Best Hip Hop Video at MTV VMAs
Matisyahu Says He’s More Jewish Than Drake, Even Without His Beard
Drake Buys a House That Might Have a Mechanical Bull
It’s Drake’s re-Bar Mitzvah, and You’re Invited!

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What exactly inspired Rick Ross to name his latest mixtape The Black Bar Mitzvah? There’s not much in the text to give us any clues. Ross mentions the mixtape’s name a few times, but no more or less than he does Meek Mill’s upcoming Nightmares and Dreams (to be subtly released the day before Halloween!), his own previously released God Forgives, I Don’t, the upcoming Maybach Music Group tour, or the assortment of other projects and groups and associations that come with a mixtape released by the most powerful name in radio rap.

The only direct focus comes in the “Rosenberg” skit, in which New York DJ Peter Rosenberg sells out his heritage to take on the role of rabbi commenting on a “lavish” lunch spread and “the beautiful titties hanging out at the bar mitzvah service” (to be fair, I’d probably do this too if Rick Ross asked me). Weirdly, church organs and a Latin-sounding choir play in the background, strongly suggesting that Ross has never actually been to “Beth Shalom, Miami,” as Rosenberg claims.

Logic dictates that Ross got this idea from Drake. Drake, who brought the age of getting re-bar mitzvahed down from 73 to 25 with his “HYFR (Hell Yeah Fucking Right)” video earlier this year. Drake, who is actually Jewish. In the instant-classic music video, Drake’s re-bar mitzvah is a mixture of your typical synagogue-going crowd—and Lil’ Wayne and DJ Khaled. As Rembert Browne wrote in Grantland, the video was both ridiculous and deeply personal. Not entirely logical from the outside, it clearly felt right for Drake and the moment: “His world is a collision of cultures, so why pretend that any of them live in silos?”

Drake shows up on The Black Bar Mitzvah, but doesn’t bring any Talmud quotes with him. Instead, he’s got the most victory-lapping verse on the whole victory-lapping album; he sounds drunk and it’s terrific. “You let Drizzy get a verse, you gon’ get this worrrrk!” he slurs, like your best friend celebrating a promotion. Ross’ mixtapes have a way of bringing the out the best among those chosen to guest, and Bar Mitzvah is no exception. Rap baby Rockie Fresh steals the show with lines like “Like racism/I’ma be around,” 2 Chainz shows up because Obamacare made it illegal to have a mixtape in 2012 without him, and the whole thing runs pretty smoothly. Ross comes off as a slightly weird, very rich person who can make people feel successful just by being around them.

Basically, it feels like a normal mixtape, which makes the Jewish trappings even odder. The cover art, with a golden Ross popping out of a Star of David, feels like the end result of some historical fiction where Israel’s main export is customized 1970’s shag vans. It’s absurd—and absurdly eye-catching—which is precisely the point. It could raise questions about black-Jewish relations, but of course it doesn’t. This is a Rick Ross mixtape, and the guy who has claimed incarcerated drug dealers like Big Meech and Larry Hoover as role models isn’t exactly interested in an intercultural dialogue.

The closest historical point of reference is Jewish Mafioso Meyer Lansky, who’s been given shout outs from all-time legends Jay-Z and Raekwon. Lansky, who ran casinos in Cuba for a decade and was denied the right of return by Israel for his criminal activities, was also fictionalized as Hyman Roth in The Godfather. This would be a natural meeting point for Ross and The Jews, given how so many Maybach album covers tend to resemble the poster for Coppola’s masterpiece. Yet while the Jewish Mafia is given a namecheck on Ross’ version of Future’s “Gone to the Moon,” Lansky is nowhere to be found.

The Black Bar Mitzvah will definitely cement Ross’ place among 14-year-old Jewish private school kids looking to spend their bar mitzvah money while also wanting to be black, but that’s about it. He’s taken a stereotype once used as an excuse for vicious discrimination and presented it to be as harmless as it actually is. That we can look at an album cover like this and see nothing but the universally bizarre is without a doubt a good thing. If you’re keeping score at home, you can call this one Good for The Jews. Ross thought up at least one good tagline for The Black Bar Mitzvah, and it’s a fitting one: “Everyone’s invited.”

Previously: Watch: Drake’s HYFR Bar Mitzvah Wins Best Hip Hop Video at MTV VMAs
It’s Drake’s re-Bar Mitzvah, and You’re Invited!

From this author: Why I Gave Up God But Still Keep Kosher
The Beastie Boys Album That Changed Everything

The post Why Rick Ross’ ‘Black Bar Mitzvah’ is Totally Fine for the Jews appeared first on Jewcy.

Drake’s bar mitzvah-themed music video for “HYFR,” featuring Lil Wayne and a particularly inspired chair-lifting scene, won Best Hip Hop Video at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. Even better, Jewcy favorites Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg presented him with the award (it feels like only yesterday Jones and Drizzy were reportedly dating!). Mazels all around, people.

Drake, who took the stage with Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and that guy from the video who looks like he went to your high school, spoke earnestly about his Jewish roots while clutching his brand new moonman statue. “The video is about being me, being black and Jewish,” he told the crowd before dedicating the award to anyone out there “who’s ever had a long walk home by yourself.”

Aw, Drake!

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The post Watch: Drake’s HYFR Bar Mitzvah Wins Best Hip Hop Video at MTV VMAs appeared first on Jewcy.

According to Page Six:

A source tells the magazine that Drake, whose given name is Aubrey Graham, met Jones at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and that the two have been quietly dating ever since.

“She wants them to go public, but he’s reluctant,” the source says, despite their reps saying they are just friends.

The article also links Drake to Tyra Banks, but we’re having a hard time buying that the pair, eating frozen yogurt at Disneyland—where the supermodel was “uncharacteristically dressed down in jeans and a grey T-shirt, with very little makeup”—were really on a date. Disneyland? Drake has so much more game than that.

If (fingers crossed) this Drake/Rashida thing is real, what will we call them? Drashida? More important—what will we name their hypothetical future Jewish babies?

Previously:
It’s Drake’s re-Bar Mitzvah, and You’re Invited!
Rashida Jones Skillfully Describes How Mel Gibson Feels About Jews

(Photo credits, from left: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images; David Livingston/Getty Images)

The post Jewish Rapper Drake Reportedly Dating Jewish Actress Rashida Jones appeared first on Jewcy.

Drake ~ HYFR Feat. Lil Wayne from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

The post It’s Drake’s re-Bar Mitzvah, and You’re Invited! appeared first on Jewcy.