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Drake has a penchant for repping HBCUs in his songs and his feature alongside Benny The Butcher on his newly released track didn't disappoint. The rap superstar shouted out Jackson State in the latest track, “Buffalo Freestyle,” which dropped early Friday. Partnering with Benny The Butcher, Drake gives Jackson State a special mention, reminiscing about an unforgettable moment that helped shape his career.
In the track, Drake raps, “My résumé is thicker than Nicki, I'm busy-busy/I remember doing halftime at Jackson, Mississippi.”
This line brings back memories of his performance during a Jackson State University football game halftime, highlighting his long-standing admiration for HBCUs.
This isn't the first time Drake has shown love to Jackson State or HBCUs in general. Just last February, alumni from Jackson State's renowned marching band, Sonic Boom of the South, joined Drake on stage during his “It’s All A Blur – Big as the What?” tour with J. Cole in Tampa, Florida.
Christopher “CJ” Gibson, Drake's road manager, explained the decision to include the Sonic Boom, stating in a quote obtained by Jackson State Newsroom,
“The first ‘It’s All a Blur Tour’ featured 21 Savage as a co-headliner. As we were planning the tour’s second leg, we changed the artist. This new tour is with J. Cole as a headliner, so they just wanted to add a different aspect from the old tour,” Gibson explained. “Drake came up with the idea to make it a sports theme show, and he wanted to add a marching band. Now, everybody we work with knows that I was in the marching band.”
The Toronto-born artist also made waves at Morehouse and Spelman's joint homecoming in 2022 when he surprised fans by joining 21 Savage, the headlining artist, on stage. His love for HBCU culture doesn't stop there. He's paid tribute to the Southern Heritage Classic, where Jackson State and Tennessee State faced off for years, as well as Howard University and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, in various tracks. Plus, Texas Southern University got its own shoutout in the song “TSU.”
The song was featured on Benny The Bucher's three-track EP, Buffalo Butch Vol. 1. Alongside “Buffalo Freestyle” the EP includes “Penny & Shaq Freestyle” featuring 38 Spesh and “Hard Way Freestyle” with Fabolous. The collaboration was rumored and the collaboration circulated the internet as an unreleased track. But the song is now officially out, just in time for the start of the football season, where it is sure to be on the playlist of HBCU fans, specifically Jackson State fans, this Fall.
