Songfacts®:

• More naval gazing from Drake here as he raps about life as a celebrity at his Hidden Hills, Calabasas, California home. He talks about hanging out with the strong team that he has around with him and how he jokes with them about his many haters.
  
  I be tryna laugh with the bros 'bout the opps that we know
  But they can't take a joke, 'cause it's not one
  Think it's 'cause we live by the code, reputation to uphold
  Makin' me the one they gotta take the spot from
  I be tryna laugh with the bros but they can't take a joke
  
  Drake recognizes that speaking out to his trolls automatically gives them legitimacy but he recounts later in the song how difficult it is just sitting back.
  
  And my haters either on they way to work or they arrived
  And I gotta own the things I rap about just for my pride
  You know when it comes to pride, I can't put that s--t aside
  
• Drake starts off his second verse by referencing travelling to Milan, Italy where his son and son's mother were living at the time.
  
  Back and forth to Italy
  My comment section killin' me
  I swear I get so passionate
  Y'all do not know the half of it
  
  Drake admitted to having a child from adult-film actress Sophie Brussax after Pusha T dissed him in his song "The Story of Adidon." Assuming these lines were written at that time, he penned them in the midst of getting roasted by social media trolls for his secret son.
• The song was produced by Modmaxx, a former professional snowboarder who had previously worked on OVO signee Roy Woods' song "Snow White." This was Modmaxx's first collaboration with Drake; their hook-up came about after the beatmaker met Roy Woods in Toronto and Woods put him in touch with longtime Drake collaborator Noah "40" Shebib. The beat for "Can't Take a Joke" was one of many that ModMaxx sent over to him.