Drake and His Dad Dennis Graham's Rocky Father-Son Relationship: Everything to Know

Drake's relationship with his father, Dennis Graham, is rocky at times.

The father-and-son duo has had their ups and downs over the years, and the "One Dance" rapper has referenced their connection in some of his songs.

In 2013, Graham confirmed to TMZ he did a song with Drake, mirroring his son's statement in an XXL cover story.

"My dad is a star. That's what you have to understand," said Drake. "I can call my dad right now and be like, 'Yo, dad, I need you to fly to shoot.' He's always down. I'm living my dad's dream. My dad wanted to be a famous singer. I have my dad on another bonus record on the album called Heat Of The Moment."

He continued, "It's a real relationship. Not to be ironic, we go through the motions of a father-son relationship. Right now, he happens to be extremely stable and content, and I take care of what I can for him. All he wants to do is go to Beale Street in Memphis and play music. He's rediscovered his passion for music and for being a musician."

Drake also raps about Graham living in Memphis, delivering the lines, "And my father living in Memphis now, he can't come this way/ Over some minor charges and child support that just wasn't paid, d---/ Boo-hoo, sad story — Black American dad story."

He also explored their bond in the songs "0 to 100/The Catch Up," "Look What You've Done" and "From Time."

Meanwhile, Graham released the track "Father and Son" on Father's Day in 2021.

"A father and son will always understand each other's heart/ And they'll always sit together/ Until it's all said and done/ So there's nothing/ No, there's nothing in the world/ Like a love between a father and son," he sings in part of the song inspired by his relationship with Drake.

In the 2018 HBO series The Shop, Drake reflected on how his bond with his child echoes the one he had with Graham.

"As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale, like, 'Oh, Drake started a family with Rihanna and this is, like, so perfect,'" he shared.

He added, "I am a single father learning to communicate with a woman who, y'know, we've had our, we've had moments, right? I mean, I do want to be able to explain to my son what happened. But I don't have any desire for him to, like, not love his mother... Like, we have found ourselves in a situation and we are both equally responsible and now, like, I'm just really excited to be a great father. I have a son, he's a beautiful boy."

The radio personality and Drake's mother, Sandi Graham, split when the rapper was just 5 years old. The matriarch took full custody of Drake in 1991.

"I didn't come from that [peace]," Drake continued on The Shop. "I came from my mother being like, 'Your dad is this.' My dad would never speak ill of my mother — ever, ever, ever. My mother is the nicest, kindest, sweetest woman, but she's a woman scorned and a woman who is exhausted."

Following Drake's portrayal of the relationship in his tracks, Dennis expressed his frustration about it in an interview.

He told Office their bond "has always been good" and that he "got on [Drake] regarding the lyrics, which "made people think that [they] were not close."

In the aftermath of the father-son dispute, Drake dressed up as Dennis for Halloween in 2019. He sported a matching white top, glasses, gold necklaces and a knitted cap.

"Not planned," he quipped in a since-deleted social media post.

In a 2019 interview with Nick Cannon on Power 106, Dennis firmly denied the allegations that he neglected his role as a father.

"I had a conversation with Drake about that. I have always been with Drake. I talk to him if not every day, then every other day," he disclosed. "We really got into a deep conversation about that. I said, 'Drake, why are you saying all of this different stuff about me? This is not cool.' He said, 'Dad, it sells records.' Okay, well cool."

In response to Dennis' claims, Drake took to Instagram Stories to reveal he "woke up today so hurt."

"My father will say anything to anyone that's willing to listen to him," he wrote. "It's sad when family gets like this, but what can we really do that's the people we are stuck with."

The "Janice STFU" rapper clarified "every bar I ever spit was the truth and the truth is hard for some people to accept."

On May 15, Drake released his new song from Iceman titled "Make Them Cry," in which he revealed Dennis has cancer.

"My dad got cancer right now, we battlin' stages," he raps. "Trust me when I say there's plenty things that I'd rather be facin'."

Shortly after Drake dropped the track, Dennis told photographers outside of Bar Jubilee in West Hollywood, Calif., that he was diagnosed with lung cancer "a while back," but he's "okay now."

"I’m wonderful…" he clarified. "Thank you guys for the concern. I love you all. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you. It was lung cancer at first, but fortunately, I got a message that it disappeared, so here I am."

The patriarch also noted he is in remission and "not smoking like [he] used to."

Dennis confessed, "I have a puff every now and then [though]... I want to thank everybody for being concerned about me. I love you all. Peace."