Music Video Breakdown: Child’s Play

At a whopping 12 minutes, Drake’s music video “Child’s Play” is too long for a child to play with. Tyra Banks stars as his girlfriend, who will not take any of his cheating. When she finds suspicious texts on his phone, she doesn’t hesitate to make a scene at the restaurant.

Not just any restaurant, either, but the classy and romantic Cheesecake Factory. As Drake makes his way out of the bathroom after realizing his fatal mistake of leaving his phone on the table, the cinematography reveals a buildup of suspense. Small details are accentuated as the frame zooms in on his feet and other tables in the restaurant, in slow motion, and the extraterrestrial sounding music gets louder and louder. Before it all goes down the drain, Drake makes a nervous comment, “This is like the nicest [Cheesecake factory] that I’ve seen!”

Tyra Banks will not stand such behavior, however. Drake tries to calm her down, with little success. This girl is on top of the world. Clapping in his face, she screams “I AM TIRED OF YOU AUBREY,” enunciating each word with each clap like a cheerleader gone mad. As the couple’s argument reaches a boiling point, and Drake throws a “Tell me—What do you want to do?” at Tyra. Answering the question, she shoves the cheesecake in his face. Oh, fresh Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. To put the cherry on top, she pours the remaining wine down his face. Though a disgusted couple in the restaurant had left earlier, now you hear people cheering in the background for Tyra. Obviously, her choice to stick up for herself is admirable.

Drake begins to sing now, with the cheesecake still smothered all over his face, and the wine still dripping down his shirt. Even he knows that this is all just some child’s play—but wait, he’s calling Tyra a child? Do I sense some hypocrisy?

The plot thickens at the strip club that Drake’s friend invites him to go to that night. All the ladies are rounded up by a “sheriff” who has dubbed himself none other than “The Texas Hammer Junior.” The girl’s names are a variety of mixed marbles, from Coco to Honey and then of course, a notorious Infectious. After a round-up of the strip girls (quite literally) with a disgraceful prayer that bends a reasonable understanding of a prayer, “way down yonder/in the chattahoochee/shit it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie,” Drake goes full out in the strip club. Twenties fly everywhere, trippy lights flash through the air, and Drake laments his break-up.

—Staff writer Lucy Wang can be reached at lucy.wang@thecrimson.com