Drake has stirred controversy yet again, though this time, it’s not for his long history of questionable betting habits. Last week, the rapper announced his latest single, “Slime You Out,” which marks his first collaboration with SZA and the first track to be lifted from his forthcoming album, For All the Dogs.
The cover art for the single is an image of Halle Berry getting slimed at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, and the actress had some choice words for Drake following his “Slime You Out” announcement. For a woman whose name has been mentioned in nearly 100 rap songs, it appears Halle Berry (or “hallelujah,” as Kendrick Lamar might quip) has had enough.
Drake and SZA announce “Slime You Out”
On Sept. 13, both Drake and SZA took to their respective Instagram accounts to announce their collaborative single “Slime You Out.” It is the first preview fans have gotten of For All the Dogs, Drake’s eighth studio album set for release on Oct. 6.
Neither artist confirmed the single’s release date and simply accompanied their posts with a series of emoticons. While a SZA and Drake collaboration is news in itself — the pair dated in 2019 and have referenced each other in their songs — it was the cover art for “Slime You Out” that caught the most attention.
The cover in question is an image of Berry amid a royal sliming at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, which she attended as one of the presenters for the evening alongside Glee’s Chris Colfer and Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly (how circa 2010s does that sound?).
Halle Berry weighs in
Following Drake’s announcement, Berry shared an Instagram post with text that read: “Sometimes you have to be the bigger guy … even if you’re a woman!.” When asked in the comments section whether the post was about the cover, the actress confirmed she was “disappoint[ed]” by Drake’s single art, writing that she had chosen to be “the bigger person and move on.”
Elsewhere in the comments, Berry revealed that Drake did not get her permission to use the image, saying that while she admires the musician, she “thought better of him” and described his using the image as “not cool.”
Another user pointed out that Getty Images owns the rights to the photograph and that Drake likely got permission to use it regardless of Berry’s wishes. To this point, Berry revealed that Drake had personally asked for her consent and went on to use the image despite her declining.
“He asked me and I said NO,” Berry wrote in the comments section. “Why ask if you intend to do what you want to do? That was the f*ck you to me.” While neither Drake nor SZA has responded to Berry’s gripes, the plot thickens with the same viscosity as bright green slime following the official release of “Slime You Out.”
Drake releases “Slime You Out”
On Sept. 15, “Slime You Out” appeared on streaming services, though Berry’s gooey green look was noticeably absent in the single art. Instead, “Slime You Out” was accompanied by the album cover of For All the Dogs, which is a scribbled picture of a dog hand drawn by Drake’s son, Adonis Graham.
In any case, the furor has led some to question exactly what “Slime You Out” means, which is where the ever-resourceful Urban Dictionary comes in handy. To be “slimed out,” according to the dictionary, is to be “to get crossed… after you did something foul or suspicious,” a term which — if certain rumors are to be believed — has Drake written all over it.