I’m a lover and a hater type fan of Drake. Here are my reasons why:
He’s Fine
He’s a cornball: I imagine Drake to be that goofy friend that randomly says the corniest things, and laughs at his own jokes. There is something about the way he carries himself. He effortlessly makes himself a target. His meme appeal speaks for itself.
I sometimes don’t know if this is an act or if it’s really how he is. Writer Michael Arceneaux has never been shy of critiquing Drake and has said Drake knows what he doing and is optimizing on the social value of his corniness. I didn’t think of it like that until I saw the video for Hotline Bling and how crazy to the internet went over it.
I’m torn between him being brilliant or corny. One side of me says it’s brilliant because Drake knows he’s a walking viral marketing ad and everyone will eat it up. Maybe it’s his corniness that makes him brilliant. Then I say it’s corny because I start to question: “what is he really doing this for?”
By doing “this” I mean being one of the greatest mainstream rappers in the game. Sometimes his motives for me are unclear.
He’s got bars:
Forever
Trophies
Lord Knows
Stay Schemin
Light Up
His singing: Although he does not have the best singing voice, and is usually caught in his feelings, girls cannot help but love it. I have to admit I’m one of those girls. He obviously made songs like Hold on We’re Going Home, Doing it Wrong, or Find Your Love for women. I remember crying to just about every other song on Take Care. So Typical.
Others artists obviously like his singing and know it’s a smart move to feature him on one of their tracks. A lot of us were just listening to songs because Drake was on the hook.
He’s soft: His singing is one reason why people say he’s soft. Then it’s the lyrics, which also just coincide with his corniness. I want to defend him and say “Aww Drake is just a sensitive guy.” But the raps about missed chances, heartbreak, stripper obsession, and being caught in his feelings have me laughing at its ridiculousness.
“You can have my heart or we can share it like the last slice.”
“Just throw up while I hold your hair back.”
“You’re making me nervous, I haven’t even heard from you.”
“You can even call me daddy, give you someone to look up to.”
Nothing is wrong with being emotional. Rappers are never shy to express their emotion on something that affects them deeply. But Drake’s emotion brings this softness that I or most rap fans don’t want to see in a rapper. Marvin Room’s video is just one example of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyjxsOYnys
It’s ironic that as a woman I want a man to be unafraid to show his feelings and also sensitive to mine. Then when I listen to rapper who is in a sense telling male listeners to let their guard down, I call him soft.
He’s Hard: Or is he? At least he wants fans to think so. He was just crying over a stripper and now he’s talking about mobbin’ and catching bodies, beefing with Meek Mill (although Back to Back was tight), or thinks he’s a London roadman.
Drake is the perfect example to question what it is we want from rappers now. Before rap fans were drawn to the raw lyrical abilities and tough appearance of Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, or Tupac.
Rap was conventionally viewed as this tough genre (even before gangsta rap) because the rappers were talking about the hardtimes they were going through. Sure there was embellishment, but their songs were accounts of their lives, dreams, and dissatisfaction of the world. We believed them because you could hear the realness in their voice and see it in their demeanor.
Then Drake came along and exposed an unexpected side to come from a rapper. He brought that ‘drunk dial and beg for her back’ side. Are we chastising Drake because he’s being more honest about his emotions than other rappers? Sure he’s corny and a bit too sappy sometimes but is calling Drake soft just me or other critics not accepting how rap has changed?
Rap is different from how it was years ago. It’s not so hardcore anymore. Sure rappers are still exposing the harsh realities but it’s on a different sound and about different topics. I’m all for artists not being one dimensional and changing it up, especially if it’s good music. I like that Drake is changing the way we look or accept rappers to be today. But is this emotionally themed rap here to stay for a while? I’m still on the fence.
PS, I’m writing this while drinking a glass of wine and listening to Take Care.
-C