Specifically, in the photo, Drake is wearing a black hoodie that clearly sees the numbers 8 and 1 sit in the centre of the chest. This actually represents the 8th and 1st letters of the alphabet, those being ‘H’ and ‘A’ which of course is short for Hells Angels. As for who spoke out against the choice of clothing, one individual was Toronto Police Chief, Mark Saunders, who took to Twitter to say “Any endorsement, no matter it’s form, for a criminal org is frustrating for all law enforcement including TPS.” Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of BC’s provincial anti-gang agency also spoke out, stating: “They want individuals like him to wear their paraphernalia and propaganda to portray a positive image, to counteract and provide a counter-message to messages and reporting from the media and police and, quite frankly, from the victims who they’ve impacted.”
Another factor that encouraged people to speak out against Drake is the fact that he was actually gifted a key to the city in 2016 by Toronto mayor John Tory and therefore should be more aware of the city’s issues and how to minimize them. Furthermore, OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes, pointed out that anyone who chooses to copy the rapper’s style could even be targeted by the gang’s rivals.
