Drake had his fans in a fierce debate over the Christmas holiday thanks to a surprise two-hour interview with Rap Radar's Elliot Wilson and Brian Miller.

The interview with the Grammy-winning musician caught the attention of many people, but Twitter focused on his comments about cultural appropriation, specifically of Afrobeats.

When asked by Miller about critiques from those who claim Drake appropriates music styles like New Orleans bounce and Afrobeats for his own personal gain, he said they came from “a bunch of people that weren’t on this boat to begin with.”

“Even the definition of ‘appropriating’ a culture is not supporting that culture, doing songs with people deeply rooted in that culture, giving opportunity to people in that culture. That’s not appropriating. Appropriating is taking it for your own personal gain and denying that it was ever inspired from this. That’s the true disservice that somebody could do to the U.K., to dancehall, to Afrobeats. Any time I embark on one of those journeys, I ensure that I am not only paying all due respects verbally. I make a point to give opportunity to people that I respect,” he said.

Drake on critics that label him a culture vulture or appropriator

Does he help more than hurt?

pic.twitter.com/wLFg6FOtnG

— New Wave Magazine (@NWMagazine) December 26, 2019

“I definitely feel like because when I do things, they do get magnified and amplified, people can sometimes feel uncomfortable. Like “One Dance” goes No. 1… but it’s like Wizkid was on the song with me. I had blessings from the real dons in that space. I know those guys, I link with those guys. I go to their shows, they come to my shows. They touch my stage. The chatter is one thing, but in the community amongst the real Gs that are doing this shit, I’m solidified for sure,” Drake added.

He admitted that no Afrobeats music could be better than the stuff produced by those working in the space, but he took some credit for helping popularize the genre through songs like "One Dance" and "Come Closer."

.@Drake on the impact “One Dance” and “Come Closer” had on popularizing Afrobeats. pic.twitter.com/Vbia9IDvxd

— Wizkid News ???? (@WizkidSource) December 26, 2019

The comments sent people into a frenzy on Twitter.

If I slap.

Drake deserves no credit for popularising Afrobeats.

Most people don’t consider One Dance Afrobeats and these times all Wizkid did on the song was whisper lmaoooo https://t.co/FqglB8pWnV

— T (@Tobincii) December 26, 2019

No DJ, Radio or playlist managers or Afrobeats listening audience in any part of the world ever regarded 'One Dance' as Afrobeats. It was a great radio friendly record that featured Wiz..who added his vibe to it. Pls tell Drake

— ???????????????????????????? (MVII) (@May7ven) December 27, 2019

One Dance ain’t even afrobeats in the first place let’s start there; the tune sampled a funky house song and had Wizkid whispering on it and he thinks that’s enough to qualify? Ok ????

— manda (@Comanda_x) December 27, 2019

Some Drake fans logged on to say the internet was making a big deal out of something they considered to be factually true. Miller notes that people at YouTube said "One Dance" did have an effect on the wider popularity of Afrobeats.

You guys misconstrue his words a lot. He said nothing is better than Afrobeats. He’s the biggest artist in the world, of course he aided to pushing Afrobeats to the world by working with one of the biggest african artist there is. He’s not saying he’s the main reason it’s big. https://t.co/9ZNA5uNOk1

— Tom Moutchi (@TomMoutchi) December 27, 2019

Drake featuring an afrobeats artist on his track, even if it's not an afrobeats track, will bring more attention to that artist and have people go and check for them.

That is still helping and contributing.

— Puddi (@PuddiSRC) December 27, 2019

Drake definitely helped make afrobeats a bigger genre in America let’s not deny that (one dance has a afrobeats kind of vibe to it in my opinion)

— babygirl???? (@sadzaprincess) December 27, 2019

This is not the first time Drake has faced criticism for his evolving music tastes. British rapper Wiley went after the superstar in an interview, calling him a culture vulture and slamming him for stopping his collaboration with OVO artist Popcaan.

In response, Drake told BBC Radio that most of the criticism was coming from people who were mad they were not chosen for features or others who "are no longer even relevant in that space.”

“But they have a radio interview that day and they want to be like, ‘Ah yeah, Drake, him doing Jamaican music is wack.’ They’re also mad that OVO signed Popcaan…They’re mad that I linked with this person and that person, but not them…You can always tell when it’s fueled by personal gain that was never granted to them,” he said.

Drake responds to everyone calling him a culture vulture then drops Wiley’s name on @1Xtra ???? pic.twitter.com/kw9Qeli4Er

— UPROXX (@UPROXX) April 14, 2019

Drake was embroiled in another "culture vulture" controversy last year with New Orleans bounce artists who chafed at how the legendary Big Freedia was credited on the hit song "Nice For What."

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