Responding to news of the track’s name, Steel told New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli that while he was unaware of it, he expressed that he’d had the “honor and pleasure” of meeting Drake, real name Aubrey Drake Graham, adding that he was “so kind considerate, generous, inspirational, [and] intelligent.”.
Lamar also dragged Drizzy’s name through the mud when he recited the "a-minor" line during his “Not Like Us” performance and flaunted an "a" chain – a quip that fans were quick to suggest was a nod to the previous allegations Lamar made against Drake suggesting that he had a string of sexual relationships with underage women.
However, the reference to Brian Steel represents a more positive symbolism since Drizzy has sought to support Thug, real name Jeffery Williams, after he pleaded guilty to six total counts, including possession of drugs and firearms in October 2024.
Drake sparked a legal petition against the distributor and Spotify U.S. last November when he alleged that the two music giants worked together in an illegal ”scheme” to artificially inflate the number of streams of "Not Like Us" while Drizzy amid the feud with Lamar.
During the trial, Steel, spoke on his choice of aggressive song lyrics stating “Yes, he speaks about killing 12 [...] and people being shot and drugs and drive-by shootings,” but, such violent rhetoric, he argued, was a product of the environment that Williams’ grew up in.
