ILoveMakonnen Says The Rap Industry Turned Him Into A Punk: “You Can’t Beat Them You Better Join Em”

ILoveMakonnen is not filtering himself and the rap industry is getting the full blame for who he became.

In a recent conversation that has been making its rounds, Makonnen went straight into it. The industry did not just change his sound or his image. According to him it changed how he moved entirely. “I didn’t start being a punk until I joined the rap music industry and saw how punkish it was. And so like, shit girls, you can’t beat them you better join ’em.”

When the topic of him lying about his identity came up he pushed back on the framing but copped to one thing specifically. The hairdresser situation. “Hey girl, there’s nothing for me to lie about at all. You know what I’m saying? Seems like that’s a kink for you.”

When his past Hot 97 interview got brought up and someone pointed out he had claimed to be a hairdresser, he did not deny it. He just made sure the context was clear. “Oh yeah! I was a hairdresser. That don’t mean I was a punk. You know what I’m saying? You could do hair and not be a punk.”

Then he flipped it back. “So you must be a punk too.”

What really got him going was the suggestion that he was not representing his community during his come up. Makonnen was not having that narrative at all. “I started rapping hard for us since 2017, bitch. You cannot give me that.” He made sure to separate doing hair from anything else people were trying to attach to it. “I was in the hair salon doing everybody’s hairdress.”

If you didn’t know, Makonnen came up under Drake’s OVO Sound label and had a moment with “Tuesday” before things eventually came to a standstill. He has been more open about his identity and his experiences in the years since. This conversation is just the latest reminder that he has absolutely nothing left to hide and even less patience for people who want to rewrite his story for him.

Drake’s former artist ILoveMakonnen says the rap industry changed him completely, turning him into a “punk,” while also admitting he lied about being a hairdresser. pic.twitter.com/YuzAQY854Z

— No Jumper (@nojumper) May 23, 2026