Meaning of “I’m Upset” by Drake

“I’m Upset” is a song by the famed Canadian rapper and singer Drake. The lyrics of the song center on Drake’s anger and frustration at two major things. The first being “gold diggers” who only come to him because they want to take his hard earned money away from him. And by “gold digger”, the rapper is referring to some of the women he has come across who come with fake love just to grab his money.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Drake's I'm Upset at Lyrics.org.

In addressing the issue of women giving him fake love and wanting his money, Drake talks about a particular woman whose bills he is obliged to pay at the end of every month and give her whatever she wants. It’s unclear who this woman is.

The second major issue the song’s lyrics address is the issues of enemies coming after him. He talks about the sheer number of rappers in the industry disrespecting him and how these rappers deliberately look for a beef with him just in order to gain publicity.

Bounty on Drake’s Head?

In the song, Drake talks about a bounty on his head. He mentions three bounty amounts that his enemies have put on his head: $50,000, $100,000, and $500,000. In the lyrics, Drake calls the first two bounty amounts ($50,000 and $100,000) too little to be put on the head of someone of his caliber. He therefore finds them offending and highly disrespectful. However, with regard to the last bounty amount of half a million dollars, the rapper talks about being the figure being manageable to the point where he can “accept” because it makes him feel as though “someone tried their best”. But he goes on to warn the person(s) to be his guest if they feel they are ready to “waste half a million” dollars.

That said, what isn’t clear is whether the rapper is talking about the bounty literally or metaphorically. We strongly hope it’s the latter! If it is the latter, then it is likely Drake is referring to the cheap deals people offer him. On the other hand, if he means this in a literal sense, then Drake is basically implying that his enemies are trying to kill him.

Is “I’m Upset” about Drake’s Beef with Pusha T?

In response to many speculating that this track is related to Drake’s feud with American rapper Pusha T, Drake took to the social media platform Instagram to let his fans and the world know that the song is in no way connected to that particular beef.

Interestingly, despite Drake saying this track has nothing to do with his beef with Pusha, Pusha released the track “The Story of Adidon” on May 29, 2018 in response to Drake’s “I’m Upset”. In one of the lines from Pusha’s “The Story of Adidon”, Pusha emphatically talked about the track, in which he mocks Drake saying his “upset” and going on to say he wants to see how it’s like when Drake gets angry.

Facts about “I’m Upset”

  • “I’m Upset” was co-written by Drake and a songwriter who goes by the name Jordan Oritz.
  • The track was produced by American music producers Oogie Mane. Prior to producing this track, Oogie was a relatively unknown producer.
  • “I’m Upset” was officially released on May 26, 2018 as the third single from Drake’s fifth studio album Scorpion.
  • The music video of “I’m Upset”, which was directed by Canadian actress and music video director Karena Evans, features cast members of the Canadian teen drama TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation. It’s worth noting that prior to gain international stardom as a rapper, Drake starred in this TV series. In the series, Drake played a character named Jimmy Brooks – a basketball star from a wealthy family. 
  • The phrase “I’m upset” appears only three times in the lyrics of the song.
  • “I’m Upset” peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.

14 Responses

  1. Jess says:

    This here isn’t true. Drake had a very severe argument with XXX Tenctation and when he says triple X that’s the only time he will eve shoots below the neck is direct to XXX. Drake planned to kill XXX and he did but when he did XXX had shoot scars below his neck. I’m not dumb and this text about girls and money isn’t true done belive it !!!

    • terry says:

      You may have to rethink on the girls’ thing bro. he says “can’t go 50/50 with no who*e”, “every month, am supposed to pay her bills and get her what she want”, “she gone try and settle out in divorce” and the likes…

      In divorce courts today, since the world is “effeminate”, a woman can deliberately divorce him and take 50% of his everything, even when she did not bring a single thing to that which the man created by his own hands bro. be like Drake. at least have a deterrence to ensure none of your property goes to someone who nothing to you. build everything you wanna have BY YOUR OWN. should a woman come to you let her bring minor things that can be replaced by another woman when she decides to leave you. you have the info now. hope your women don’t mess you up. being obligated to support some woman’s who*e life for years (implemented by the law, actually) just because you both have a child is TOTAL sh*t. look at Drake and his kid. it’s about time you started taking care of your own by yourself. i highly disregard the phrase “behind every successful man is a woman”. that sh*t is irrelevant when you built yourself from your men (network and connections)

      be uncultured. all this “women” thing is sh*t. as a man, stand out amongst the simps. you’re the prize yourself…

      • Anonymous says:

        Bro maybe you are right but he might be talking about tentacion’s relationship ,as tentacion beat his pregnant wife and the couple wanted to sign a divorce but tentacion refused to do so and tried to change.

        • Anonymous says:

          XXX was never married and the girl he allegedly beat was his ex gf, not the one who had his baby and was with him when he died. 2 different girls

    • Anonymous says:

      When he talks about triple x he means p**n, and wen he says that’s the only time I ever shoot below the neck, he’s referring to when he cums he’s gonna do it on her b**bs.

      • Anonymous says:

        Man quit covering for him
        We all know he was referring to xxx tentacion

        • Alex Thompson says:

          On Saturday night May 26, Drake released the single I’m Upset. X died on June 18. Care to explain this? Btw, yes it is on Scorpion, but I’m Upset was added to the album.

      • anonymous says:

        what about the line where he says y you keep on shooting if you know that ***** dead like what

  2. Arun. Skrillz says:

    Drake is a coward who stabs from the back
    One day all the truth will be revealed

    Go to hell drake
    Flow stealing coward

  3. Nancy says:

    That is not true, drake will never do such, he has a lot of enemies that are trying to drain his energy and he has to battle

  4. Mobsy says:

    For sure drake is responsible for xxxtentacion’s dead. Hell is waitin for him. f**k

  5. Anonymous says:

    I do think drake was the person who planned tentacion’s murder,.. as you can see it was all made to look like a Robbery because if their true intention was to rob they could have just threatened him by the guns because who would want to take the headache of killing someone.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I believe drake is Rapping about The death of XXXTentacion and some believe that he hired someone to kill XXXTENTACION

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like...