Drake has revealed it was a torn meniscus that forced him to undergo surgery on his knee last year.
The information comes in a verse the Canadian rap star contributed to “Seeing Green,” a track Nicki Minaj dropped Friday that also features Lil Wayne.
Drake raps that “this ain't gon' be the first time that I do numbers on two crutches” and “I play forty-eight minutes on a torn meniscus.”
The meniscus is cartilage that provides cushioning between the thigh bone and shin bone. Each knee joint has two of these shock absorbers. (The "48 minutes" refers to the duration of a regulation basketball game.)
Drake has not said much publicly about the reason for the surgery he had last October. He shared a photo of his right knee in a brace shortly after the operation. Then, in December, he posted a clip in an Instagram Story that showed him walking inside his Toronto mansion. “SOME CONFIDENT STEPS at 5 WEEKS,” he captioned it.
In January, Drake told fans via Instagram Story that his new album Certified Lover Boy was delayed because "between surgery and rehab my energy has been dedicated to recovery." He added: "I’m blessed to be back on my feet feeling great."
In “Seeing Green” – one of two new tracks Minaj released to promote the streaming edition of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty (as well as a remix of Skillibeng’s 2020 track “Crocodile Teeth”) – Drake also gets a shout-out from Lil Wayne.
“Ever since the pandemic / They don't wanna let Drake out of Canada,” he raps. “I been screamin’ ‘Free Drizzy.’”