Drake's blackface photo was to 'highlight frustrations'

Drake has addressed the controversy of a photo of him appearing to be in blackface.

The Canadian rapper said it was to highlight and raise frustrations about black actors "not always getting a fair chance in the industry".

He said it was taken as part of a project while working as an actor - and not for a clothing brand shoot.

The 2007 photo resurfaced after Pusha T posted it on his Instagram, along with a track taking aim at Drake.

• A brief history of Drake's rap feuds

On his Instagram story, the God's Plan rapper said: "The photos represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment."

He said the photo was from a project that was about "young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and type cast".

Previous reports suggested the photos were from a clothing brand shoot but Drake insisted this was wrong.

Drake said he and his best friend at the time, actor Mazin Elsadig, were "attempting to use our voice to bring awareness to the issues we dealt with all the time as black actors in auditions".

Pusha T has used the photo to promote The Story of Adidon - the latest in a line of diss tracks between the two rappers.

He was responding to Drake's track Duppy Freestyle, which was released on Friday.

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.