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Rb Hip Hop

Drake Got New Face Ink Featuring a Common Hometown Arabic Slang Phrase

"Miskeen" is used in Toronto in the Somali community to stand in for "poor" or "misfortunate."

"Miskeen" is used in Toronto in the Somali community to stand in for "poor" or "misfortunate."

Drake

Courtesy OVO/Republic Records

Drake added some more ink to his face recently, as seen in pictures over the weekend in which some Arabic script was spotted above the rapper’s right eyebrow. As spotted by HipHopDX, on Saturday (Nov. 18), photographer Brent Kore posted an image of Drizzy’s new face art on his Instagram Stories, capturing the phrase “miskeen” in an arch over Drake’s eye.

The phrase is commonly used in the large Somali community in Drake’s Toronto home town and comes from the Arabic word “miskin,” which is commonly defined as “misfortunate” or “poor”; the University of Toronto magazine gave the translation as “a pathetic person or situation.” Check out an image of the tattoo here. At press time it did not appear that Drake had posted an image of his latest ink or explained its significance.


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It joins another homage on his face that the 6 God got last summer, his mother’s initials, SG (for Sandra Gale), under his left eye.

Drake’s all-time Billboard Music Awards record of 12 trophies in one night (2019) was almost broken on Sunday (Nov. 19) when Morgan Wallen pulled in 11 awards at the 2023 show. With 10 wins on Sunday, Taylor swift pulled into a tie with Drake for all-time BBMA wins at 39 each. Drake took home top rap artist for a record-extending fifth time, top rap tour for the second time, and top rap album (Her Loss) and top rap song (“Rich Flex”) for his successful collaboration with 21 Savage.

On Friday, Drake released the Scary Hours 3 EP, a six-song collection of freshly-recorded tracks tacked on to the new edition of his recent For All the Dogs album.

This article was first posted on Billboard U.S.

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Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.
John Nacion/Billboard

Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.

Music News

Ed Sheeran Addresses Controversy at First Show Since Openers, Backing Band Dropped Off Tour, Calls It ‘The Best Show of My Life’

Before his show in Philadelphia, Sheeran read a statement acknowledging the issue of Israel and Palestine, but still tried to keep things neutral.

Ed Sheeran needed to address the situation before he could start playing guitar. It wasn’t how he wanted to start his show, and he’s made it abundantly clear that the last thing he wants around him is controversy or, in his words, to be an “activist musician.”

But here he was, at the first show after his opener and friend Macklemore was kicked off the tour, following pressure by a group of venue owners led by Robert Kraft who took issue with Macklemore’s statement of support toward Palestine. That led to the rest of the tour’s openers and even Sheeran’s backing band for the tour dropping off the tour in solidarity with Macklemore — all of which became a huge news story and PR nightmare for the usually very un-controversial Sheeran. And though he had already made one highly scrutinized statement online while the news story was at its most potent, Sheeran felt the need to address the crowd at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night (Sept. 19) in person, before the show really started.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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