Meaning of “You & The 6” by Drake

“You & The 6” is a song written and performed by rapper Drake. In this song, the narrator (Drake) pays tribute to his mother Sandra Graham and his hometown Toronto, Canada.

The “You” in the song’s title refers to his mother Sandra, also known as Sandi. The “6” in the other half of the title refers to Toronto. The number “6” is the nickname Drake has given to the city of Toronto. He created this nickname from area codes of Toronto – 647 and 416. As can be seen, both codes feature the number “6”. Drake therefore calls Toronto “The 6”.

In the song, Drake is basically showing gratitude to his mother and the city of Toronto for molding him into the great man he has become today. Sandi raised Drake all by herself after she divorced his father, Dennis Graham. Drake was only 5 when his parents got divorced. Sandi raised him all by herself in Toronto from that young age until he became the prominent person he is today.

Now Drake feels he owes a huge debt of gratitude to his mother and the city in which he was raised. And he shows his gratitude through the song “You & The 6”. In his eyes, his mother and “The 6” raised him right and saved his life.

Facts about “You & The 6”

• Drake wrote this song in collaboration with a ton of other songwriters, including his longtime collaborators Illmind, 40 and Boi-1da. Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman from the Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan also receive songwriting credits on this song.
• Three of the song’s co-writers (40, Illmind and Boi-1da) united again with Drake to produce this track.
• “You & the 6” officially came out on February 13, 2015. The track was featured on Drake’s 2015 mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
• This track contains samples from two songs: Drake’s 2009 hit “The Calm” and Majid Jordan’s 2014 song “Forever”. It is because of the latter song that the members of Majid Jordan are credited as songwriters on this track.
• Three years after this track came out, Drake penned another powerful song honoring his mother. That song was titled “Sandra’s Rose”. It came out in 2018 as part of his fifth studio album Scorpion.