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Drake’s NOKIA music video has sparked a new wave of speculation, with fans and critics questioning whether the video aims to mock Kendrick Lamar. However, not everyone believes that reworking the hit track into a diss song is the right approach.
Rob Markman, a music journalist and media personality, recently expressed his disagreement. He suggested that if Drizzy is indeed mocking Kendrick, the approach strikes him as more tiresome than clever.
"If I take it for what it is on the surface, cool fun video. If you start to look deeper into it, it's just distracting, and it's not fun anymore."
The NOKIA music video, directed by Theo Skudra, was filmed in IMAX and released on April 1. The video, dripping with early 2000s nostalgia, features flip phones, low-rise jeans, and hazy visuals reminiscent of classic hip-hop clips.
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Rob Markman's views on Drake's NOKIA music video
On April 1, Rob Markman, on his podcast Just My Thoughts, stated that there were "two ways to look at Drake's NOKIA video." He described it as a "fun video" on a surface level and considered it a "return to form" for the rapper.
"Drake isn't taking himself too seriously here, there's funny faces, there's overacting, it looks like dude is just having fun."
Markman further explained that there is a second way to watch the video. Unlike his viewing experience, he said some viewers are searching for "the subliminal, looking for the trolling moments, looking for the connections to Kendrick Lamar."
He also highlighted the alleged "trolls," noting that certain scenes in the video might have been intended to mock Lamar. These included scenes with Hotline Bling's choreographer, Tanisha Scott. This seemed to reference Kendrick’s diss Not Like Us.
Towards the end of the video, there was also a depiction of six owls, which Markman believed some fans might compare to the caged owl in Kendrick's Not Like Us video. However, ultimately, Markman stated that he "doesn't get" the alleged mockery.
"If it's a troll, I don't get it, it's not like scathing, doesn't hurt. If it was meant to be a shot, if it was meant to be a troll, it's the equivalent of somebody sticking their tongue out at you...it just feels kind of childish and I don't get it."
Other Internet personalities' take on Drake's NOKIA music video
YouTube personality Justin Hunte, known as The Company Man, posted a video reacting to the NOKIA video on his channel. Hunte stated that Drizzy was "addicted" to his feud with Kendrick Lamar, suggesting that the rapper can't resist making subtle digs, even in unrelated projects.
"I don't never want to hear nothing about Kendrick spending too much time on this again. I don't want nobody to talk to me about no Drake stimulus package because Aubrey is addicted... The only thing he got right now officially with Nokia, the one song that's moving on it's own and he tied it to Kendrick Lamar," Hunte said.
DJ Akademiks, a long-time supporter of Drake, made a similar assessment while reviewing the NOKIA music video on his live stream. Watching excerpts from the NOKIA video on X, Akademiks stated that "these two are gonna be tied together like Siamese twins."
He also suggested that the accumulating rumors were the rappers' fault, not the fans, commenting, "Dot can't get over it, but Drake kinda can't get over it either."
