What More Do We Want From Drake?
There has never been an artist with more musical responsibility than Drake.
Following the release of his chart topping, record-breaking 6th studio album ‘Certified Lover Boy’, the title of this article is what I keep asking myself and others. The album has been out for 3 weeks now, and I keep hearing and reading the same word to describe the album….safe. Apparently Drake didn’t experiment enough on this album. Apparently Certified Lover boy sounds like “a regular Drake album”. Apparently fans and critics alike wanted “more” from this album. My question to those who wanted and expected more from Certified Lover Boy is this…What exactly is More? It’s been a question no one has been able to answer for me. The hunger for more is not just the title of Lloyd Banks’ debut album but it’s also human nature. Sadly, enough is never enough. Let’s breakdown all of the musical responsibility needed to make an album like CLB and then try to answer whether or not we should want anything more from The Boy.
Consider the most legendary and iconic music artists of all time. Take your time. Now think about how many different styles within their genre of music they mastered in their prime. Now think about how many genre’s of music outside of their immediate genre they have explored and succeeded in. Within rap alone, Drake is responsible for and expected to deliver on at least 5 different genres of rap.
- Luxury Rap
Think of any song he has with Rick Ross e.g: “Aston Martin Music”, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”, “Gold Roses”, “Diced Pineapples” etc. These are the raps where all of the finer things in life are illustrated to you and make you question where you went wrong in your life.
2. Introspective Rap
Any song from Drake’s catalog can fall under this category but let’s stick to the timestamp songs e.g: “5am in Toronto”, “4pm in Calabasas”, “9am in Dallas” etc. These are the songs where Drake shares his exact state of mind and uses what I call the “Aubrey Graham Flow” to do so. These songs are not usually included on official releases, but because Certified Lover Boy is the album where Drake reached a deeper state in his meditation, he gave us 7am on Bridle Path.
3. Trap Rap
His joint album with Future, ‘What a Time to Be Alive’ proved that not only can Drake rap over Trap beats… but that many people want him to. A song with Future is now expected from Drake on each album and he’s expanded his trap collaboration circle to include Young Thug, Lil’ Baby and 21 Savage among others.
4. Billboard Rap
You know…the hits...e.g: “Toosie Slide”, “Nice For What”, “God’s Plan”, “In My Feelings”, “Way 2 Sexy” etc.
5. Fun Rap
This is an open ended category. Everything from mosh pit rap e.g: “Sicko Mode” and “Portland” to songs only Drake can get away with making e.g. “Ratchet Happy Birthday” and “Girls Want Girls” can fall under this category
These are just 5 of the rap genres (there are at least 2 more). Now think about your favorite Drake R&B records. How many different emotions has he stirred up within you? How long has the King of Hurt and Petty held you down? Let’s not even go there. *Play’s “Doing it Wrong” and moves to the next paragraph*.
This may read as such so far but this article is not a Drake Parade. I acknowledge and understand the negative opinions concerning Drake’s career.
“He jumps on trends/songs and runs with them. He’s a culture vulture.”
Noted. But if the songs he did within these other genres were bad songs…would we even care? Is it that he has experimented with and adopted other genres ( UK rap, Afrobeats, Latin ) OR is that he has successfully made music in these other genres and we can’t stand it? The fact the he can even successfully make music in all of these other genres should be applauded and appreciated. If we’re being truly honest as music fans, Drake’s versatility is unmatched. I don’t just mean for our generation of music, I mean all-time. Any music icon you can think of was a specialist in their field. Drake is a rap specialist who can no longer be considered a generalist in the other genre’s he’s explored. He’s “actually Michael Jackson”. For that reason alone we should reconsider what a “Regular Drake Album” is and what more we would actually want from Drake when he drops new music. He is an artist who has at least 7 different types of fans and has to create and deliver for each type of fan each time he’s up to bat. No one else in history has had that musical responsibility and delivered as many times as Drake has.
“Nobody praying for you when you winning, don’t forget it” — Drake
