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THANK HIM LATER, ANSWER ME NOW

What’s with this Drake guy? Seriously? Or, rather, what’s all the fuss about him? What is it about a marginal rapper/terrible singer that has so many folks losing their minds? And why am I so obsessed with figuring that out?

There doesn’t seem to be much in-between with this kid. Folks either think he’s the wackest thing ever ( “Hip-Hop’s version of a  boy band”=LMFAO) or he’s a breath of fresh air. I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise that an artist who reflects the majority of Hip-Hop’s listening audience would one day have a day in the sun. Street credibility is quickly becoming a thing of the past; listeners have finally accepted that most of their favorite gangsters are flat-out lying anyway (shout out to Officer Ricky) and aren’t as pressed to vicariously live out their hood fantasies through rappers who are essentially doing the same thing. Enter Wheelchair Jimmy.

Last week, Talib Kweli tweeted “Drake is a mainstream rapper who aint scared to rhyme about feelings & aint frontin’ like a goon. Aint that what they want?” That gave me some pause. I mean, as far as rappers who are gonna have the ears of a nation of impressionable kids go, I’d far rather have them listening to Drizzy than Jeezy. On the flip, his work is still wrought with ‘bitches’, ‘hoes’ and consummate materialism. Two points for having the courage to be emo, but the sisters are still getting the second class treatment and we’re still obsessing over buying shit. And he still has that fascination with death that his “gangster” contemporaries have. What’s up with that?

More after the jump

In all honesty, it’s hard for me to ride for anyone who is associated with Young Money. These cats are like a cross between the Biv 10 Pee Wee All-Stars and the Garbage Pail Kids, with a hood drag queen thrown in the mix. They create sex anthems for childrenand make me uncomfortable. Whatever good vibes I got from Drake before he was so closely associated with this band of hooligans started to disappear real fast after seeing them together in an incredibly awkward appearance on Mo’Nique’s show.

As for those who claim to have more discerning taste…are we just going to overlook the fact that this dude can’t sing at ALL? One of my homeboys posted “Find Your Love” on his Facebook page when it first dropped. My initial reaction was a fit of laughter. Like, I literally LOL’d. He sounds exactly like Craig David! Most everyone else I spoke to had the same thoughts…but within a matter of days, they were all riding for the track. It “grew” on them. I find the whole concept strange. How can something be wack to you initially and then all of a sudden, it’s dope?

For folks outside the NYC area who might not know this, Drake was supposed to headline a free concert for Paper Mag last week, but the NYPD had to shut it down due to overcrowding and rioting. There were a lot of teenyboppers in the house, but a lot of full grown ass people as well. And do you know who was the opening act? Hanson. Yes, Hanson. Them little girly White boys that sang “MMM Bop”. Grown ass mogs was out there at a Hanson concert. It’s not a lot of artists that could get people to sit through that just to see them. HANSON, son.

I was lukewarm on Mixtape Drizzy and Thank Me Later is…meh. I hate to sound like I’m simply ‘hating’, because there is a part of me somewhere that is kind of rooting for the kid. I guess I just need one of you hipster cats out there to confirm what I’m having a hard time swallowing: is it that skills don’t really matter when it comes to rap anymore? Is love the new hate? Am I just totally old and out of touch? The Craig David shit is what’s poppin in the streets for grown-ass men? Please help me.

DROPPED BY SisterToldja

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14 Comments to THANK HIM LATER, ANSWER ME NOW

1. 

   I think dude has his own lane. Its okay not to like him. He’s not for everybody. I don’t care too much for him either. I enjoy 06′ Room for Improvement Drake more, than I do So Fa Gone Drizzy. But at the end of the day, he’s got something going for himself. So as much as you might hate him, you have to applaud his genuine hustle. He hasn’t changed.

   And about some of his lyrics being disrespectful. I can name a lot of artist that have thrown some disrespectful bars. From Talib to Common. But its easier to throw this line on somebody that you don’t like, right?

   I also think there are still a lot of hip hop bloggers (who are artist in the spare time or hang out with part time artist) salty, because how he found a way to get on. Those individuals need to let it go, and come up or help their associates come up with another Plan A. Because the one right now isn’t working.

   I don’t enjoy his music, like the next one…But he has carved his own lane.
Cash on June 22nd, 2010
2. 

   hahahahahahaha!!! soooo true
Rocko on June 22nd, 2010
3. 

   Okay the Craig David reference and HANSON really have me laughing in my cube right now. I like Drake and support him for the most part but I don’t LOVE Drake. He played it safe on TML and I was over it within a week. Curious about his first week sales. And do cosign Cash, yes he has made his own lane and seems to genuinely work hard so we gotta salute the brother for that. But I agree, the over-hype is maddening.
Maiya on June 22nd, 2010
4. 

   Cash- I never said I didn’t like him, I said I wasn’t sure yet. That’s kinda what the whole article was about. Yeah, a lot of artists kick disrespectful lyrics, but this piece was about Drake and that line specifically refferred to how he’s “different” in some ways…but not in others.

   Maiya- MMMbop style! I can’t. I won’t. It makes me uncomfortable.
Sister Toldja on June 22nd, 2010
5. 

   First off Sis, you’re a plum fool and a half dagummit….

   But pertaining to Drake, I deffffinitely feel you on being on the fence with him. But honestly, I do support his music and I hope he has a successful music career because I’d much rather see more Drake stans & Mr. Me-Too’s than Waka Flocka’s. And the way the music game as a whole is looking, there’s more cockdangling and format-rappers than there are original acts. So, lesser of two evils, Drake’s style points people towards better music creation. Besides, he’s a damn good songwriter. And he’s good at picking beats.

   Yes, lyrically there are stronger acts. And yes, there a million and a half better singers, but hey….he’s iight. He put his shit together well enough to produce quality material.

   But naw g, Find Your Love sucks I can’t go.
*Pbbt! on June 22nd, 2010
6. 

   drake is tight yo
KiLLA on June 22nd, 2010
7. 

   I used to like Drake Room For Improvement & Comback Season were good mix tapes but So Far Gone is corporate cash . I can’t help but hear industry execs steering his general career now. I keep hearing his record label telling him what his theme/message of the album should be .
Doo Wop on June 22nd, 2010
8. 

   Comedy!!!!Diggin The Post!

   So this is my take on why Drizzy Mania Is Upon Us.

   I think it’s the America way to hate what you cannot appreciate or understand regardless of how nice/dope/fresh/phat/on-point/fiyah/john blaze/jerome propane/ etc something maybe. In America, people HATE to be TOLD what’s hot period. Most people in America want to believe they are INDIVIDUALS and are immune to “mass marketing”. I think this is why some people have a hard time swallowing the Drizzy Kool-Aid.

   Dude is everywhere from blog leaks, remix mixtape albums, regular mixtapes, videos, radio. You cannot escape the forever puckered lips of Drizzy Drake these days. When Drake was a mixtape artist a few years ago, it was “hip”ster to be up on this new artist from TDOT. He was like the best kept secret and was hailed as the next hot artist to blow. Now that he is on smash and doing it. Some of us are having a hard time with this new reality, the transition from being little our secret to sharing this talent with Clear Channel, BET, MTV etc.

   So what is my point? My point is…..it is pointless to try and understand why folks are losing their minds over Drake. All you can do is sit back and appreciate the sheer power and mind F#@kin audacity of American pop culture at work. American pop culture finds what is pure and dope and rapes it while encouraging you to participate in this heinous act of debasing art to a commodity. Drake is the new easy money, thing about it. Dude basically gave away his album via leaks a week before his album drops but still pull in 450K units sold on his first week. That’s the power of the American pop culture machine. You can’t stop it once it get moving…

   So in conclusion, Drake is still the same Drake from the mixtape days. Nothing has changed, dude still spits that fire and can put a mean song together. The only thing that has has changed is the size of his stage.

   Get Em Drake!!!
   “The Game Needs Change, I’m The M-Fin Cashier” – Drake

   Sorry for the extra length on this post. Just had to get it out….

   DrizzyStan
   The 5th Cousin of Sir Lucious Left Foot
   The Son of Chico Dusty
DrizzyStan on June 22nd, 2010
9. 

   I could do without the singing, but youre really selling him short by calling him a middling rapper. His success is definitely tied to the singing, but if you take it on the strength of his rapping alone, hes still a top tier guy.
Eli Sweet on June 22nd, 2010
10. 

    I like Drake but the album is underwhelming. I only listened to about four tracks and have since traded it for The Roots album.

    My sister made a great point: all his songs sound the same. He sounds the same on everything, and everything is the same thing. I need him to say MORE. Plus I like for my hip-hop yo get me hype. the whole album is a melancholy Picasso except for Fancy, which ends in his trademark sing-a-long.

    I think the issue is people praised So Far Gone so much, that they had to see if his actual album was worth it…and since it isn’t much diff than the mixtape-that-could, i think we can move on to my favorite artist: J. Cole.
Lorin on June 23rd, 2010
11. 

    @Drizzystan- Many good points, sir. And “Forever puckered lips” *dead* Comedy.
Maiya on June 23rd, 2010
12. 

    disgree with this post, drake is the truth.
adam on June 24th, 2010
13. 

    Drake is all good, he isn’t as up in the clouds as people think he is. He works hard to get where he wants to be. He’s not pushing any sort of disrespectful regime. He knows how to be successful and ultimately accomplishes that. He’s fully aware of the position he’s in and the things he can do. He’s a rolling snowball with mass appeal. And with all of this, he’s out there in the mainstream, with all of the other fishies.

    The hate, as well as the obssessiveness, comes with the resume. Drake is hip-hop’s shining pop star at the moment. Does he deserve all this? That’s really up to him. But trust me, lots of what people say about him becomes unoriginal and bland. Best thing to do is to just carry on with life.
GR on June 25th, 2010
14. 

    wise words. i can barely call up his sound, really, to criticize. funny, rich at fourfour was just saying really similar stuff: http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/2010/06/the-evolved-male.html
[dave] on June 27th, 2010

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