Drake’s Father Says He’s Cancer-Free After ‘Iceman’ Reveal: ‘That Was a While Back’

Drake’s mention of his father’s cancer on Iceman quickly became one of the album’s most closely scrutinized details, but Dennis Graham says the health scare is behind him. After the rapper disclosed the diagnosis on the opening track “Make Them Cry,” Graham told TMZ that the illness was in the past and that he is doing well now.

“No, that was a while back,” Graham said while being approached by paparazzi outside Jubilee in West Hollywood on Friday, May 15. “I’m OK now. I’m wonderful.” He also said his phone had been ringing constantly since the song landed, and thanked concerned listeners for reaching out. “Thank you guys for the concern, I love you all. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you,” he added.

Drake’s reveal arrived before the album itself was out, first surfacing during the episode four livestream for Iceman on Thursday night, May 14. The project then hit streaming services at midnight Friday, alongside two more surprise releases from Drake: Habibti and Maid of Honour. The timing left fans parsing the lyrics before they had even had time to sit with the full rollout.

On “Make Them Cry,” Drake writes, “My dad got cancer right now/ We battling stages/ Trust me when I say there’s things I’d rather be facing.” He also reflects on the unusual shape of their relationship, rapping earlier in the track, “I have to father my mother and treat my son’s grandfather like my older brother.”

Graham, 71, later elaborated that it had been lung cancer at first, but said it had since cleared. “Fortunately, I got a message that it disappeared,” he said in the TMZ clip. “So here I am.” It is not clear when Drake recorded the song, and Billboard has reached out to him for comment.

Iceman is being positioned as Drake’s ninth studio album, and its size alone says a lot about where he is in this phase of his career: the project spans 43 tracks across more than two and a half hours, with Habibti and Maid of Honour standing alongside it as part of the same surprise dump. For an artist who has long used albums to blur autobiography, spectacle, and overabundance, this rollout pushed all three tendencies to the front at once.

Drake accepts the Top Artist award with his father Dennis Graham during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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