Play Me Some Simpin, Mane: Drake - Nothing Was the Same

Of course, but I read Ship's review more along the lines of "well, he's been omnipresent but only because the people have no ears" - and that strikes me as sorta insufficient.

haha sure but that's a position implicit in every reevaluation

it's not really a mystery to me why a "non-threatening" rapper would come to so dominate the barren pop landscape, although his longevity and omnipresence is certainly unusual. he's taken it really far.

my question upthread about what he would have to do to destroy his career was genuine btw. I can't think of anything

ehh if i was writing about his entire career i'd be more charitable about what the appeal is. i think NWTS is lacking in a lot of things about his music that have appealed to people besides the Sad Millenial Spokesperson aspect.

If he started to sound old and out of touch, people would move on. But so far he's been the guy writing the rules.

i mean i think a lot of what is unique about Drake (in good and bad ways) has been normalized to the point that we don't talk about it. but like, the way he goes from rapping to singing the exact same way in every song is kind of hilarious and bizarre.

If he started to sound old and out of touch, people would move on

I fear dude will just move (back) into movies and tv where he will be until we die

insert sadface

that "you feel like you miss those happy days well" ::abrupt shift into crooner mode:: "that makes twoooooo of uuuuuuus" flow xp

so good

my question upthread about what he would have to do to destroy his career was genuine btw. I can't think of anything

Obviously I was naive, but once I was thinking the same of Lil Wayne.

that's the thing! if Drake decided to play guitar and make a shitty rock record... it would probably be huge

I've already got him playing piano hush

drake at a piano is so plausible. for probably the first time in history, the grand piano's time as a swag symbol is nigh. franco sits at one in sprang breaaaaak-ers. has future sat at a piano in a vid?

drake as keyboard cat is pretty fun to picture

http://cdn.rap-up.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/future-letoya-honest.jpg

no doubt yall will correct me, but i feel like this setting woulda had to have been some period reimagining in the past

xp true

http://www.vibe.com/sites/vibe.com/files/styles/main_image/public/article_images/vibe-drake-chilly-gonzales.jpg

was wondering what will self had been up to lately

not a big Kid Mero fan but he definitely sums up my feelings about "Too Much": HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA YO WHO THE FUCK IS SINGING THE HOOK ON THIS SHIT B!? THE AMPHIBIAN VERSION OF TRACY CHAPMAN?

Drake had 17 hot 100 singles since '09

alicia had 9, one of which was 'unplugged' and one of which was with usher

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Thursday, September 26, 2013 1:49 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

[in that '01-04 window]

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Thursday, September 26, 2013 1:50 PM Bookmark

Billboard's rules, the way music is distributed, and the way albums are promoted have all changed a lot since that time, and each of those three things allow big artists to place more songs on the charts than in the early 2000s. Alicia Keys was huuuuuge. Ironic that the best song she's done in the past five years was written by Drake tho.

aw poor sampha

altho tbh AMPHIBIAN VERSION OF TRACY CHAPMAN is actually a superior and more enticing rvw to any the uk press have tried to boost him with

poor samphibian

Billboard's rules, the way music is distributed, and the way albums are promoted have all changed a lot since that time, and each of those three things allow big artists to place more songs on the charts than in the early 2000s. Alicia Keys was huuuuuge. Ironic that the best song she's done in the past five years was written by Drake tho.

― The Reverend, Thursday, September 26, 2013 7:00 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there being a reason for it doesn't make it not a reality! There were many, many more drake singles in heavy radio rotation than AKeys ones

this is such a weird discussion

it's an imperfect comparison obv but funny to think about and kinda otm

i think it describes a very narrow slice of why ppl like him \oO/ feel like the 'traditional' 'real soul' stuff was way more a part of alicia's narrative than 'serious important artist' is for drake

yeah someone throwing out an 'x artist is like the y of z' as a cheap shot and then the analogy being dissected for every way it does or doesn't fit perfectly is prob my least favorite of all ilm parlor games. let's not overthink whether drake is like alicia keys on a mathematical level.

Of course, but I read Ship's review more along the lines of "well, he's been omnipresent but only because the people have no ears" - and that strikes me as sorta insufficient.

― longneck, Thursday, September 26, 2013 10:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how would you evaluate katy perry's omnipresence then?

and as alfred said, if you take shots at an artist - and negative critique of successful artists is valid, right? - you're implicitly saying "their stans have bad taste". i don't think shipz was at all dismissive of what drake's appeal is though.

to be real, i fully get what drake's Sad Millennial appeal is, but i think it's almost wholly rooted in character traits that i think are unhealthy and off-putting and crucially highly uninteresting.

Well for a start Katy Perry hasn't really been that influential? LAdy Gaga would probably be the better comparison if we're going there, but omnipresence in hiphop (a competitive sport in so many ways) and pop are fairly different things. Hiphop isn't the same as it was before Drake entered the game, and a lot of that has to do with Drake. Can you say that about Perry?

And I'm not in any way arguing that you can't criticize success - I do it all the time myself - but I STILL say we're past the point where we can belittle Drake because he obviously heard 808s & Heartbreaks and picked up a few tricks from Trey Songz.

Also, this thing about Hold On We're Going Home sounding just like Adorn? To the extent that it does that should be a good thing (to most people), right?

lol you haven't been reading pop stan message boards if you think pop isn't a competitive sport. though music as competitive sport is a somewhat basic angle tbh, there's little logic to it.

i would argue that the things which have changed about hip-hop are traceable more to kanye, if you're talking about middle-class interests and introspection. also, game-changing is not necessarily good! i do not defend the game-changing that led to the past few years of guetta bosh over r&b in the charts, for instance.

also it seems like you're not really taking on board the many, many criticisms of drake that have been outlined itt, it's certainly not only for his obvious influences.

To the extent that it does that should be a good thing (to most people), right?

"adorn" as performed by drake = one giant NO THANKS

i'm pretty sure i've seen katy perry stans argue her significance btw. i can't stand her but you can probably make a case for anyone as popular as she is

Pop is a competitive sport too of course, but hip hop has always been ABOUT who is on top in ways that pop has not. That's the part of the game that won't change. And Kanye is obviously the other guy who has been massively influential. Wayne would be the third, although at the moment he's not really in the game anymore. Idk, I like what rap has become because of those guys. It needed change, or else we would be listening to Pusha T all day long I guess.

What are these many many criticisms of Drake btw and why should I take account of them? I mean, the guy is far from perfect. It's just that there's been so much critical ressentiment surrounding him for so long now and it's kinda getting to the point where I think his undeniability is more interesting than the complaints about his rapping and singing and whatnot. I like his rapping and singing. I wouldn't pitch it against Jay-Z in his prime but I'd take it over, say, 80-90% of the other guys who are out at the moment.

I see way more automatic critical adoration tbh.

There are plenty of criticisms that have nothing to do with his voice or influences or even softness. Did you not read Katherine's great piece? People find him skeevy because his "sensitivity" is posturing, because he's unable to sketch out any of the characters in his songs (especially the women), ie his songwriting is poor, because his own problems - ie the things he makes the focus of his music and the means by which we're expected to identify with him - are horribly shallow and boring and basically because all of this means his much-vaunted sensitivity rings completely false. There's plenty else, this is just off the top of my head on my phone! And drake stand never ever engage with those criticisms of him

Man I hardly ever identify with ANY of the rap artist I listen to. Universality is not the issue. Why is this such a problem with Drake? If Barry White had wheezed "I want your hot love and devotion" I'd certainly love it so why shouldn't Drake be able to say it - in a genre where one doesn't even normally say those kinds of things. It has nothing to do with fandom. I am not a Drake fan, yet I'm struck by how angry you all are at him. Yeah, he's a douche. He knows he is a douche. He has given us new - passice aggressive as Al says - ways of being an asshole in rap. I applaud him for that.

*s

**?
***passive

I need to read these things before I post them. Sigh.

"He knows he's a douche" is the WORST defence both in art and irl. That makes it NO better!

Why should we praise someone whose artistic persona = passive-aggressive douche? Being more pass-agg and douchier than anyone else is not an impressive accomplishment.

Well, it works for Kanye and it works for Drake. If Drake had been simply a nice young fellow no one would have found him very interesting. Unlikeability/unsympathetic traits is pretty much a prerequisite for any rap star. You all tend to treat him as if he is trying to date your daughter or something.

Unlikeability/unsympathetic traits is pretty much a prerequisite for any rap star.

Yeah that was the route to success for Will Smith there. Maybe more seriously, what kind of essentialist fantasy are you embracing here?

Will Smith was the best you could do, huh? Sorry, these are pragmatics, not essentials.

actually painful to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUSp9npIvuE

Definitely painful to listen to, lol.

Well, it works for Kanye and it works for Drake

Nah, aesthetically it stopped working for Kanye in 2010.

Longneck, this is what I get from you:

*asshole drives by skillfully in sleek top of the line car, intentionally crushing bunnies*

You: "See? Isn't that something to be proud of?"

Us: "...no?"

You: "Well it is and the gas mileage is great too."

*asshole drives by skillfully in sleek top of the line car, intentionally crushing bunnies*

You: "See? Isn't that something to be proud of?"

Us: "...no?"

You: "Well it is and the gas mileage is great too."

Us: "...no?"

You: "At least the asshole was AWARE he was an asshole!"

Oh right, forgives all sins.

The concept of the asshole rapper is that foreign to you, huh?

drake's relationship to his assholeishness is so much more disingenuous and unpalatable than most, this is again something that has been said before.