‘Proof of an Obsession With Me’

Music critic Anthony Fantano is speaking out after Drake sent him direct messages that rated his existence a “light 1.” Fantano told Newsweek that he’d rank himself a little higher, also insinuating that Drake might even have an “obsession” with him.

Fantano is a YouTuber with some 2.64 million subscribers who’s long analyzed new music on his channel, “The Needle Drop.” Several months after issuing a less-than-glowing review of Drake’s latest album, he received what he’s calling a “salty ass DM” from the rapper.

Instead of revealing the messages himself, Fantano had initially teased in a YouTube video that Drake had simply sent him a vegan cookie recipe. But Drake apparently wasn’t happy with the jest and decided to post the real receipts on his Instagram Story.

“Your existence is a light 1,” Drake wrote to Fantano. “And the 1 is cause you are alive.”

“And cause you somehow wifed a black girl,” the multi-hyphenate talent continued. “I’m feeling a light to decent 1 on your existence.”

Drake’s mean DMs haven’t seemed to bother Fantano too much. He’s since changed his Twitter handle to “anthony ‘light 1’ fantano” and engaged with Drake fans and detractors online.

And he also agreed to open up to Newsweek about the ordeal, which he described as “just another day in Fantanoland, I suppose.”

Fantano wrote to Newsweek that he’s heard from celebrities before, but mostly, they’re positive messages thanking him for his work. Some musicians might have even grown up watching his content, so a review of their material sort of becomes a “surreal moment” for them, “even if they end up going platinum or something like that.”

Of course, Drake didn’t appear to appreciate Fantano’s take on his latest LP, Honestly, Nevermind, which the music critic succinctly summarized as “NOT GOOD.”

After Drake posted the screenshots, many fans weighed in to support the superstar, whose legal name is Aubrey Drake Graham.

“Funny enough, the quality of insults I get from Drake fans is about the quality I got from Aubrey himself in the DMs,” Fantano told Newsweek. “Not very bright, not very cutting, and proof of an obsession with me I don’t fully understand.”

And what of the depressingly low rating that Drake gave his existence? Fantano respectfully disagrees that it’s a “light 1.”

“I’d rate my existence pretty high, but that’s…