Drake has once again managed to dominate airwaves with his latest single, “Nice For What”, a catchy crowd pleaser that is the perfect follow up to the ever-popular “God’s Plan”.
Never one to miss a beat, Drake dropped a star-studded music video to go with the song, featuring a myriad of the powerful women the song aims to celebrate.
Some, like Rashida Jones, Olivia Wilde, and Letitia Wright, are already household names, while most others feature some sort of prior connection to Drizzy.
To help you sort through the who’s who of Drake’s “Nice For What” video, we’ve put together a quick guide on who each of the women are, why they were featured, and how they are connected to 6 God.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde was shouted out on Drake’s remix of PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Freak In You”, when he rapped “we can get wild like Olivia.” The actress is also a self professed Drake fan, thanks to her husband Jason Sudeikis.
Rashida Jones
Jones and Drizzy are reportedly close friends. Speaking to Complex, Drake once said “I was, like, in love with Rashida. I love funny women and I love beautiful women and I love women that have great taste in music and Rashida is all those things.”
The Parks and Recreation star also exhibited her “Hotline Bling” dance skills on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Check it out here.
Jourdan Dunn
British actress and Victoria’s Secret model Jourdan Dunn has been photographed hanging out with Drake at various events and once appeared on The Untitled Action Bronson Show, where she shared her favorite late night eats.
Dunn also had a role in Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson’s Zoolander 2 movie, which came out in 2016.
Issa Rae
Along with being nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for her work on HBO’s Insecure, Issa Rae was also a big fan of Drake’s DJ set at a Golden Globes afterparty.
She endorsed Drizzy’s performance, saying “he was a phenomenal DJ. He played all the correct tracks. The playlist was simply... correct. So I’m pleased.”
Misty Copeland
Misty Copeland’s occupation as a ballet dancer for the American Ballet Theatre might make her connection to Drake less obvious than the other women. However, the fact that in 2015 she became the first African-American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT’s 75-year history makes her a worthy addition and as powerful as they come.
Add to that the fact that she warms up to Drake tunes and it becomes easy to see why she made an appearance in the music video.
Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta
The Lejonhjärta twins first made it onto Drake’s radar when they featured in the Views album art booklet that went along with the rapper’s 2016 album.
In the Instagram post above, the Swedish duo claimed they got Drake drunk and had him get a tattoo of their name – if that’s not a ringing endorsement we don’t know what is.
Tiffany Haddish
Comedian/actress Tiffany Haddish is best known for her role in the 2017 movie Girls Trip, for which she received critical acclaim and the closest thing to bona fide overnight stardom there is. Along with being really funny, she’s also a huge Drake fan – as evidenced in the above Instagram post where she called out Champagne Papi for being late to his own show.
Tracee Ellis Ross
The multi-talented Ross is an actress, model, comedian, and television host best known for her role as Dr. Rainbow Johnson in the comedy series Black-ish. And – if she wanted to be – she could have been Mrs. Drake after her cover of “6 God” earned her a marriage proposal from Drizzy himself.
Check out her rendition above.
Yara Shahidi
The 18-year-old actress, model, and activist is best known for starring as Zoey Johnson on Black-ish and the resulting spin-off series Grown-ish. Back in 2016, Yara had a lot of time for Drake’s congratulatory billboard message to Rihanna, as she expressed in the tweet below. In addition, she is cousins with none other than Nas.
Letitia Wright
Guyanese-British actress Wright has been around for a minute, appearing in a Doctor Who episode in 2015 and featuring in Black Mirror’s amazing “Black Museum” episode. She truly broke onto the Hollywood scene, though, by playing Shuri in 2018’s Black Panther and will be reprising that role in the Avengers: Infinity War movie coming out later this year.
As for her connection to Drake, it’s twofold. She had a role in Drake’s favorite British show Top Boy, which the rapper is trying to bring back, so she might have been on his radar already from back then. In a recent Time Out interview, Wright gave Drizzy a shoutout, saying “I love Drake, he’s amazing.”
Bria Vinaite
The actress is best known for her role of Halley in Sean Baker’s 2017 movie The Florida Project, which was also her first acting role. Following her performance, which earned her critical acclaim, she was cast in Harmony Korine’s upcoming film The Beach Bum.
Drake was a huge fan of The Florida Project and proceeded to shout her out on his own Instagram (above).
Michelle Rodriguez
The actress best known for her recurring role in the Fast & Furious franchise is the definition of a strong and powerful woman. Her connection to Drake is that they once reportedly partied together at NYC’s Up & Down in 2015 with Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Naomi Campbell among others.
Syd
Despite only being 25, Syd tha Kyd aka Frisco aka Syd has already had a multi-faceted music career as a singer, songwriter, producer, DJ, and audio engineer. Alongside her solo career, Syd was also a member of Odd Future and is the lead vocalist for soul band The Internet.
Talking to i-D in an interview, Syd touched upon wanting to work with Drake, claiming that she is “influenced a lot by Drake in specific ways” in her writing.
Zoe Saldana
Saldana’s breakthrough came when she played Nyoto Uhura in Star Trek and Netriri in James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009. Since then, the actress has appeared in both Star Trek sequels and portrays Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Her connection to Drake prior to the music video is unclear but all relationships have to start somewhere, right?
Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts is an American actress and singer, as well as Julia Roberts’ niece. Along with a number of film roles, she’s appeared in three seasons of FX’s popular series American Horror Story.
As with Saldana, Roberts’ prior connection to Drake is unknown.
Next, meet Octvaian, the Drake-approved U.K. rapper set to light up 2018.
