No Torontonians were spared during Tuesday’s record-breaking storms — not even rapper Drake.
With hundreds of cars stranded on roadways and tens of thousands without power, the city was crippled by a deluge that saw over a month’s worth of rain fall in just a few hours. Union Station, a massive transportation hub in the city’s downtown core, was hit with flooding along with parts of City Hall.
And with many homes underwater, even Drake was affected.
But as thousands of residents dealt with the fallout of the sudden storm, the five-time Grammy winner cracked jokes as he tried to clean up his mess.
“This better be Espresso Martini,” he captioned a video posted to his Instagram Stories that showed part of his home being swamped during the unprecedented downpour.
In the short clip, an unidentified man is seen fruitlessly trying to hold back the rushing muddy brown pool by closing a set of French doors as it streams through into a sitting room. Holding a broom to try and guide the river away from his fancy furniture, Drake — who was presumably the one behind the camera — pans down to show the water had risen up over his ankles.
On social media, fans referenced his recent rap battle with fellow artist Kendrick Lamar, which saw the two hip-hop superstars trading insults in dueling rap tracks. Lamar is widely believed to have won after issuing his final missive, Not Like Us, which accused Drake of being, among other things, a pedophile.
“We know who sent the flood,” one person wrote sharing a photo of Lamar standing triumphant, while another listed all of Drake’s recent misfortunes, including losing bets on the men’s soccer team at the Copa America tournament and the Edmonton Oilers during last month’s Stanley Cup Finals.
But Drake wasn’t alone in dealing with his home flooding. In a news release, the city said its 311 service received more than 700 calls regarding basement flooding.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority estimated that at the height of Tuesday’s storm, an excess of 100 mm of rain was reported to have fallen in certain areas.
Toronto Fire Services said they rescued 14 people from flooding on the Don Valley Parkway, a highway that connects the north part of the city to downtown.
“We’re actively rescuing people that are trapped in their cars or on top of their cars,” Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “We are triaging based on life safety.”
On Wednesday morning, the city was still cleaning up from the mess, but roadways had reopened.
In 2020, Drake gave fans their first glimpse into his opulent Toronto mansion, which he nicknamed “The Embassy,” when he was featured in Architectural Digest.
Located on Park Lane Circle in the city’s ritzy Bridle Path area, the 50,000-square-foot home features a regulation-sized NBA court, indoor swimming pool, recording studio and much more.
“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years. I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel,” Drake said in a new interview to promote the property with AD. “It will be one of the things I leave behind, so it had to be timeless and strong.”
“This isn’t stucco, paint, and fake gold. That’s not what Drake wanted, and that’s not what I do,” designer Ferris Rafauli told the outlet. “In form, materials, and execution, the structure is a proper 19th-century limestone mansion. But the exterior profiles are more minimal and the lines are a bit cleaner.”
Drake, who also previewed his new digs in his music video for Toosie Slide, called the property “overwhelming high luxury,” with notable standouts that include a bespoke Bosendorfer grand piano, a replica of Lobmeyr’s iconic Metropolitan chandelier that boasts more than 20,000 pieces of hand-cut Swarovski crystal, and 1,100 square feet of covered outdoor terraces.
In addition to an awards room and a hall of jerseys, the extravagant pad features a 3,200-square-foot bedroom, marble bathtub and two-storey closet.
“The bed lets you float, the shower lets you escape and gather your thoughts, and the closet makes you want to talk to yourself while you’re getting dressed,” Drake said.
Most of all, though, the home signified Drake’s commitment to his Toronto roots.
“I think the house shows that I have true faith in myself to take on this task when I was just 27 and see it through,” he said. “I also think the house says that I will forever remain solid in the place I was born.”
But of course, no matter how “high luxury” the property is, none of that was enough to stop musician from having to clean up after a rainstorm.
Just like us.
— With files from Canadian Press