What Is The 'Zesty Drake' Meme? The Internet Joke And Its Meme Explained

Back in November 2022, Drake and 21 Savage's joint project, "Her Loss," caused a serious stir amongst the hip-hop community, but not for any normal reason. Fans started to notice that in some verses on the opening song of the album, Rich Flex, Drake's delivery of some lyrics sounded a bit "zesty," which is basically the new way of calling someone sus.

Years later and fans of the Canadian rapper are still joking about Zesty Drake so we decided to explain how all of this started.

What Is The 'Zesty Drake' Internet Joke?

The first track on Drake's and 21 Savage's "Her Loss" album, called "Rich Flex" was the starting point for the Zesty Drake memes. At the 0:43-minute mark of the song, Drake starts singing the lyrics, "21, can you do something for me? Can you talk to the opps necks for me? 21, do your thing 21, do your thing. Do your thing, 21" (shown below). In four days, the song received roughly 2.7 million views on YouTube.

21, can you do somethin' for me? (21)
Can you hit a lil' rich flex for me? (21)
And 21, can you do somethin' for me? (21, 21)
Drop some bars to my xxxx ex for me
Then 21 (21), can you do somethin' for me? (Yeah)
Can you talk to the opps necks for me? (Okay)
21, do your thing 21, do your thing (21)
Do your thing, 21, yeah okay

Soon after the music's release, thousands of memes and videos joking about Drake's sus line delivery went viral on the internet. For instance, TikTok^[1] user @sharky uploaded a video (shown below) of a POV meme pretending to be Drake singing his verses. The post was accompanied by the caption "wayyy too zesty," which is an internet slang term most often used to call someone flamboyantly gay in a derogatory manner.

The "Zesty Drake" jokes intensified in December 2023, after the rapper made a partnership livestream to promote the online casino company STAKE. For example, on December 26th, 2023, TikTok^[4] user @fucktnttowers posted a fan edit of Drake (shown below, left), which amassed more than 15 million plays and 3 million likes in a month. On January 10th, 2024, TikTok^[5] user @arcticzxtrikzz uploaded a zesty Drake edit (shown below, right), 2.6 million plays and 549,000 likes in two days.

What Does 'Zesty' Mean?

Zesty is an internet slang term, mostly used by TikTok users as a way of jokingly calling someone out for doing something that can be perceived as stereotypically gay or effeminate.

For the full history of Zesty Drake, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.