Drake and 21 Savage went all out this week to promote their new album, His loss, using a truly unconventional marketing strategy – one involving a fake Vogue cover, a fake NPR Tiny Desk appearance, a fake Howard Stern interview, and several hardcore Hentai screenshots.
This is truly one of the most brilliant and sarcastic publicity tours I’ve ever seen – which is all the more ironic since Drizzy doesn’t need any press at all to draw attention to his work.
“The rappers have spent the past few days engaging in a bizarre, labor-intensive press cycle of false opportunities surrounding their new album. His loss“, Vulture wrote of the extended gag. “And all it makes us want to do is watch them do these things.”
Drake and Savage post the fake interview clips and all the blogs picking up on them are truly a feat of genius. Everyone was seated to see the full performance of the little office 😂😂😂
— TZ (@UpfrontTZ) November 4, 2022
Reaction to the album itself among fans has so far been mostly positive, though marred by controversy over lyrics involving famous personalities like Megan Thee Stallion, Serena Williams and her husband, the co-founder of Reddit Alexis Ohanian.
Some say Drake was simply woo more publicity with his celebrity slurs, and they certainly got people talking. But not as much as the Toronto rapper’s apparent penchant for animated Japanese porn…
duck…. pic.twitter.com/T0U3fCw4mx
– exist (@existwtime) November 4, 2022
Flashback to the beginning of this bizarre week, when Drake and 21 Savage released a joint Instagram post showing what turned out to be a fake (but very convincing!) Vogue cover issue.
On newsstands tomorrow @Duck & @21savage VOGUE magazine cover
‘HER LOSS’ NOV. 4TH pic.twitter.com/A1dyJ3mGIy
— OVO Sound (@OVOSound) October 30, 2022
Members of the project team went so far as to distribute free copies of the fake Vogue in New York.
Those lucky enough to have scored one say the magazine was just a dupe for Vogue’s October issue, filled with fake ads featuring Drake and 30-year-old Atlanta rapper 21 Savage. born in the UK.
Someone on Canal St in New York asked me if I wanted a “free” Vogue…
I didn’t know… 👀🔥 #HerLoss #Duck #21Wild #Vogue pic.twitter.com/EpcrZXXl0v
— Big Ben 🔤🧣 (@NFTBruv) October 31, 2022
On Wednesday, the artists began airing a promo for their own episode of NPR’s Tiny Desk, sparking mass hysteria among fans excited to get a chance to see Drake and 21 Savage on the popular live concert series.
Thanks for @nprmusic @tinydesk to have the gang @Duck @21savage let’s be crazy 🔪🦉#HERLOSS pic.twitter.com/cBpG9SgARI
— OVO Sound (@OVOSound) November 2, 2022
Alas, the ad was fake – a very good knockoff, in fact, with an almost identical replica of the NPR set that must have taken a lot of money, research and time to create.
The spot was so realistic that it reportedly left NPR staffers scrambling to confirm whether or not the segment was real.
In the end, the nonprofit media organization clarified that it hadn’t actually filmed an episode of Tiny Desk with 21 Savage and Drake, but was totally open to the idea.
headline https://t.co/cnqeRXAjw1 pic.twitter.com/5O02OduQsq
— Phillip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 3, 2022
The latest in his trio of fake promotional appearances was an apparent interview with radio legend Howard Stern.
Stern himself wasn’t involved — the project team simply used footage of the shock jock from past interviews to elicit particularly outlandish responses about porn and dating Drake.
“[I watch the] the highest level of top donors,” the Canadian Grammy winner said when asked what kind of porn he likes, noting that he watches porn “daily.”
Drizzy also admitted in the fake clip that he dates “four or five” women at a time.
Drake and 21 in the Stern Show 😂 pic.twitter.com/Qr7YoE0cCZ
— DrakeDirect (@DrakeDirect_) November 3, 2022
After posting the album cover (featuring nail artist and exotic dancer Qui Yasuka) and official tracklisting in two separate Instagram posts on Wednesday and Thursday, Drake got people interested ahead of the release at 12 p.m. hours on November 4 from his latest album last night with a series of Instagram stories.
Fans and critics erupted in chatter when the artist posted a screenshot of a Hentai (porn anime) movie showing a woman with big cartoon boobs and the caption “this is heavenly” .
Perhaps pleased with the extent of the reaction he got, Champagne Papi posted three more Hentai screenshots in the hours that followed.
Was the initial screenshot some weird album promotion, or did Drake accidentally post something meant for his finsta hentai? If that last, post more would have been good coverage…which many say His loss sorely lacking.