Before Drake was Drake, the biggest rap star in the world, he was Aubrey Graham, the guy who played basketball star Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian teen soap Degrassi: The Next Generation?

Jimmy ended up spending several seasons confined to a wheelchair after being paralyzed in a school shooting, and Drake’s performance as “Wheelchair Jimmy” became a meme that haunted Drake throughout his early rap career.

Club‘s new oral history celebrating Degrassi‘s 20th anniversary, writer James Hurst reveals that Drake actually almost quit the show over the whole wheelchair storyline:.

It was an odd letter that said, “Aubrey Graham will not return to Degrassi season six as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he’s out of the wheelchair.” I said, “Get him down here.” He came in and was like, “What letter.

But how do you feel about the wheelchair?” He’s like, “All my friends in the rap game say I’m soft because I’m in a wheelchair.” And I said, “Well, tell your friends in the rap game that you got shot.

I was very passionate about it, and I said, “Aubrey, there’s some kid somewhere in a wheelchair, who’s completely ignored, who’s never on television, never gets represented.” I need you to represent this person.

Being soft wasn’t the only issue that Drake had with the wheelchair, though

And after spending years trying to escape his Wheelchair Jimmy image, Drake eventually gave in and embraced his roots, reuniting most of the Degrassi cast for his “I’m Upset” music video in 2018