@whitehouse Let us remind you if you’re here illegally you’re going home.
The White House has done it again. In yet another shameless move, the Trump administration commandeered Drake’s music for an immigration enforcement propaganda video Friday, using “Hoe Phase” from his Maid of Honour album to accompany footage of federal agents conducting ICE raids and detaining people.
The post was captioned, “Let us remind you if you’re here illegally, you’re going home.” Familiar message. Same government account that, just months earlier, had already tried to turn Drake’s Iceman album into a political meme. This isn’t just co-opting a song—it’s weaponizing hip-hop culture to justify mass deportation operations, and the timing couldn’t be more offensive to what the 6 God has already endured this year.
Here’s what makes this layered: “Hoe Phase” lives on Maid of Honour, the surprise album Drake dropped on May 15 alongside Iceman and Habibti—a historic triple release that made him the first artist ever to simultaneously hold the top three spots on the Billboard 200. The trilogy clocked 43 songs total and marked his comeback after the Kendrick beef aftermath. But the government didn’t care about context. They saw “Hoe Phase,” heard something that sounded cold, and deployed it to immigration messaging. Classic tone-deaf colonization of Black art.
Back in May, when Iceman dropped, the White House had already shown its hand. Within hours, they posted an altered version of the album’s original cover—Drake’s signature jeweled glove making the “6” sign for Toronto—and replaced it with a diamond-encrusted “MAGA” chain. The caption: “ICED OUT.” Drake never authorized it. He stayed silent then, and there’s no word yet on whether he’s responding to the “Hoe Phase” grab.
But the Iceman title itself was controversial from jump. When Drake announced it in early 2026, critics immediately flagged the ice/ICE wordplay given what was happening on the ground. Back on January 7, 37-year-old Renée Good, an American citizen, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis during a surge in immigration enforcement operations. Producer Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids was among those who urged Drake to reconsider the album title, posting after Good’s death: “Might not be the best time to name an album Iceman.” Drake didn’t change it. He expanded the concept with iced courtside seats, livestreams, and massive Toronto sculpture displays.
Now we’re six months into the rollout, and the government is literally using Drake’s frozen-world aesthetic to promote border militarization. The caption “ICED OUT” reads as a double entendre on purpose—the diamonds, sure, but also the cold mechanics of mass detention. Some listeners argue Drake can’t be held responsible for the administration’s appropriation; others point out that he never distanced himself from the Iceman title when the Renée Good tragedy gave him reason to.
What’s undeniable is the pattern: government accounts treating hip-hop as meme fuel, stripping away the art’s context and humanity, and repurposing it to sell policy Americans are actively protesting. In 2024, the White House tried it with Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter tracks for DHS operations. Drake’s getting the same treatment now. The culture keeps getting stolen.
The 16BARS take: The White House doesn’t get to weaponize Drake’s music without pushback—and more importantly, Drake shouldn’t let a government co-opt his art this many times without a word. Whether he broke his silence or not, the culture is watching.
