Full disclosure, I’m not a big Drake fan myself, but I wanted to start us off with an artist that everyone knew and who was interesting (or divisive) enough that people would actually have opinions. I doubt he’s going to be that positively received here, but we’ll see.
Also suggest who the next artist we should look at is, I dunno, maybe monthly, in your comment below and let’s see if we can get some conversation happening in this community. Or conversely also tell me if you hate this and want it to die on the vine here and now. Cheers and happy listening, folks
Drake is right under Chris Brown in my “massive piece of shit” list
Fucking hell op why that image 💀
the memes, if you’re familiar with the original
This is the first thing that comes to mind and it speaks for itself.
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This is the first thing that comes to mind
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Oh yeah, he’s full-on goofy, but that doesn’t mean some of his songs can’t bang.
Yeah, but he doesn’t feel like an album artist to me, at least not for a long time. Bloated bloated albums get a pass from me.
Yeah I agree with that too. I haven’t listened to a Drake album start-to-finish probably since 2013’s Nothing Was The Same. These days I just encounter Drake songs when they either float to the top as singles or come up on Spotify algorithmic playlists. Hell, even Take Care, which I legitimately like, is way fuller than it needs to be with inconsequential bullshit.
I appreciate your brevity
Honestly, can’t even name a song by the dude, just being sarcastic on the intertubes.
Take Care was probably the first rap album I ever cared (heh) to listen to, and he was my favorite artist at the time. I was in high school and just branching out from my rock roots. I still enjoy Crew Love and Marvin’s Room, but I’ve honestly moved on from Drake as an artist. I kind of liked Nothing Was the Same, but I wasn’t really feeling where he was going. Felt cockier and lazier. IYRTITL was where I could tell that trajectory was going to continue and checked out. Checked out God’s Plan and wasn’t impressed. I saw a show for the Summer 16 tour and that was probably the last time I cared about his music. I had already been moving away, but the lack of enthusiasm I had at that show solidified a lot for me.
Moved from him to Kendrick, then started exploring old school hip hop and other, less commercialized stuff. Now I honestly have way too much excellent music on my plate from a ton of genres to care about what Drake is doing.
TL;DR: Liked his old shit, either grew out of him or he changed or both, and now I couldn’t give a rat’s fart.
Yeah I mostly agree with all this. I heard somebody say once (I don’t remember where; maybe Fantano?) that Drake was interesting when he came out because he sounded like somebody struggling with douchebag tendencies while trying to stay a decent guy, but today he just sounds like the guy who lost that battle and now he’s the guy who sings about how hard (but also awesome?) it is being a douchebag. I think that’s a pretty accurate take on him, and why his earlier stuff is much more appealing but also lessened from what it used to be by today’s knowledge of where Drake has gone.
I never thought about it like that, but that makes a lot of sense. I liked that, it seemed like he was going through tough times but was going to come out a better, wiser person and now it feels like he learned nothing. I’ll check back in after another 10 years, see how he’s doing, but I’m not holding my breath. Lost that battle sounds about right.
Hotline Bling is a straight up bop.
I almost put that one on my list. I agree, a bop indeed
Passionfruit has always been my top choice. It just hits different.
Hold On, We’re Going Home is probably second.
I think I prefer his singing over his rapping.
Would love to see this series continue!
Sad to see all the downvotes when you’re trying to hold an honest music discussion.
I would say “Worst Behavior” is the best one I’ve heard. Though I think any competent rapper would sound good on that beat, it’s not much to do with Drake.
His music doesn’t do anything for me, but it’s not the worst among top 40 type music either.
I do like some songs that he’s a feature on, like A$AP Rocky - Fucking Problems.
Sad to see all the downvotes when you’re trying to hold an honest music discussion.
Hey, I appreciate that. But I knew what I was getting into and fully expected this reception. I don’t mind downvotes for the most part, and based on my assumptions about the demographics here if I just wanted a popular post I could have started with someone like Nirvana instead for easy pandering. But I really appreciate that you recognize what I’m trying to do here, so thank you
Also yeah, Worst Behavior is another really solid track, I agree.
Like I said in the post itself, I’m not a huge Drake fan, but I do like a number of his songs, so my favorites:
First Person Shooter (All the Dogs, 2023) - J. Cole is just cool, but technically this is a Drake track so it qualifies, even if it’s mostly J. Cole’s part that I like.
Nice For What (Scorpion, 2018) - My favorite Drake song. Just hype start to finish; pure fun energy. A party or pre-game classic, and always a karaoke hit if you’re brave (or drunk) enough to get up and perform it.
Know Yourself (If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, 2015) - “Runnin’ through the 6 with my woes” will just always be fun to say for the memes, it’s that simple.
Hold On We’re Going Home (Nothing Was the Same, 2013) - I legitimately love this song. This and Nice For What are probably the only songs here I’d say I love, but this song is just a fucking vibe, man.
Crew Love (Take Care, 2011) - Early The Weeknd hit me hard, and still hits me hard. His original mixtape trilogy and first album, Kiss Land, are some of my favorite records, so this one just hits me exactly the right way.
The Motto (Take Care, 2011) - YOLO, bro.
As for songs I can’t stand, honestly Drake has a lot of music I find boring as hell, but not a lot I find painful to listen to. God’s Plan got overplayed but otherwise isn’t awful. Rich Baby Daddy is kind of borderline, because I can appreciate the vibey stupidity of it but I am already worried about over-saturation. That’s about all I can think of that stands out as notably off-putting though.
