Drake had a little fun on social media this past weekend by sharing some results from his father’s ancestry.com test.
The Toronto rap star posted a screenshot of Dennis Graham’s “Ethnicity” breakdown, which showed 30 percent Nigeria.
“This is my dad’s results,” Drake wrote. “Does this mean I’m a Naija man finally?”
Graham’s “Ethnicity” also included 28 percent Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples, 11 percent Ivory Coast & Ghana as well as single-digit percentages of England & Northwest Europe, Scotland, Mali, Benin & Togo and Germanic Europe.
Of course, the simple answer to Drake’s question is “no” since only half of his DNA comes from his father (Drake’s mother Sandi Graham has identified as Ashkenazi-Jewish). But, more significantly, these types of results don't really mean much. (Buried in its terms and conditions, ancestry.com admits “results and related reports” are, in part, for “recreational” purposes.)
“These tests do not really tell you where your ancestors came from,” geneticist Adam Rutherford explained in Scientific American. “They say where DNA like yours can be found on Earth today … to say that you are 20 percent Irish, 4 percent Native American or 12 percent Scandinavian is fun, trivial and has very little scientific meaning.
“DNA will tell you little about your culture, history and identity.”