“Pipe Down” by Drake

Telling someone to “pipe down” is basically another way of instructing them to shut up or keep quiet. And the reason Drake is admonishing the addressee to do so is primarily because she is ‘yelling at him’. Truthfully there is a lot going on in the lyrics, making the narrative a bit confusing at points. For instance, in some lyrics, the addressee is presented as someone the vocalist is not really into, while in others, it’s like Drake is really feeling her. 

But apparently, the former sentiment takes precedence. In other words, all lyrics considered, this reads like a case of the addressee coming into the relationship with higher expectations than Drizzy. And that would be why he’s somewhat startled that now she’s beefing, as noted above.

Naomi Sharon is the Addressee of “Pipe Down”?

Meanwhile a few months before this track was released, a singer that you likely never heard of called Jamie Sun accused Drake of bonking his fiancé, another virtually unknown musician by the name of Naomi Sharon. As Jamie relayed the tale, Drizzy basically used his high industry standing to seduce Naomi. 

Moreover, when putting the public on to how Aubrey violated his relationship, Sun used the term “ride or die” – a phrase which, by the way, pops up twice in “Pipe Down”. Indeed when Drake did get around to responding to Jamie Sun’s allegations, well, let’s just say that he didn’t appear remorseful concerning his actions at all.

Therefore, it has been suggested that the addressee of this song is in fact Naomi Sharon, and there is some lyrical evidence to suggest such. And if that is the case, there are two conclusions we can come to. 

One is that, as presented, she was just someone who Drizzy couldn’t really mess with, with the rapper even referring to her as “so two-faced”, i.e. very untrustworthy, so to speak. And second would be that he’s actually mocking Jamie Sun, in sort of that roundabout I-bonked-your-girl-because-I’m-cooler-than-you fashion.

A Diss Track?

It also seems that many listeners believe this may be a diss track against one of Drake’s rivals, most probably Kanye West. There has been another rumor circulating of late that Drizzy, who by the way is a well-known womanizer, once slept with Kim Kardashian, Kanye’s wife, before they were married. 

Kim K. is known to have been around the block a few times herself. Therefore if such is true, it wouldn’t be necessarily shocking or particularly big news, if not for the fact that Drake and West’s beef has recently flared up. 

So that means anytime within the last six months or so that Drizzy has come up with a track referencing sleeping with someone’s else girl – which, if you’re familiar with his artistry, tends to be quite often – then people have jumped on the bandwagon and presumed it’s directed towards Kanye.

All in all

If these lyrics are in fact true-to-life, we’d go with the Jamie Sun theory over that of Kanye West. The lyrics would suggest that the addressee is someone Drake actually had a relationship. The lyrics don’t suggest it was a one-night stand affair, though it obviously wasn’t one that was heavily publicized. 

And as far as the thesis sentiment goes, that would arguably be the vocalist regretting he ever messed with this lady in the first place. No, the said regret doesn’t apparently have anything to do with her “ex… beefing”. Instead, it’s like now that the relationship hasn’t worked out, homegirl is spazzing. 

Indeed by the looks of things, Drake is even afraid that one day she’ll write a juicy book about their seemingly brief romance, as even a short affair can be a revealing one. And that may be why in the chorus, he is even expressing a willingness to pay her off in the name of ‘piping down’.

Interesting Facts about “Pipe Down”

The track came out on 3 September 2021 as part of the album titled Certified Lover Boy. This album was released by Drake, via OVO Sound and Republic Records, on the date in question.

This song was not released as a single but apparently, with Drake being who he is and the internet being what it is, still managed to chart, as have all the tracks on the aforementioned album. And in the case of “Pipe Down”, it most notably made it onto the top 20 of a few Billboard lists, including the Hot 100 itself.

This song made more news cycles than it did upon original release when another rapper, J. Cole, expeditiously utilized the instrumental to drop his own track (just a few weeks after “Pipe Down”) entitled “Heaven’s EP“. 

And the said instrumental was produced by the following:

• Jean Bleu
• FaxOnly
• Leon Thomas III
• Anthoine Walters

Additionally, the four producers are credited as writers of “Pipe Down”, as are Kas, Simon Gebrelul, Bizzy Crook and of course Drake himself. And to note, Anthoine Walters also provides backup vocals on the track.