"I suppose,
I just wanna be,
I just wanna be successful."
It wasn't that long ago that I first heard about Drake. I had no idea what he looked like. I had no clue that he used to be on DeGrassi High. I just knew that I liked what I heard. He had a different sound and his production was tight. Drake has a laid back arrogance that I really haven't seen in a long time. He was fresh, yo. But before I could blink he was everywhere and got stale faster than an open bag of Coco Bread. With no concrete album release date in sight- his singles could be heard in steady, dizzying rotation on the airwaves. At first it was cool but I started to tire of him quickly. By the time he announced that he was signing with Li'l Wayne's Young Money label, I had pretty much had enough of Drake. It's not entirely his fault. Overexposure of new artists happens all the time. When the powers that be find a formula that works- they are not quick to deviate from it. Especially when the Artist Du Jour crawls out from under a virtual rock and captures the attention of the public with ease. The problem with that is it gives the listening public more of a chance to critique what they are hearing. They form a more decisive opinion. For someone who claimed, "The game need change and I'm the muthafuckin' cashier..." he started to sound more and more like Kanye West and Li'l Weezy rolled into one to my ears. Ordinarily this wouldn't affect me, but recently I've been subjected to a lot more radio play than I am accustomed to. So much so, that at this point I don't give a shit when his album drops. Through radio, Youtube and other online media resources I've had enough of Drake. And this is coming from someone who just merely months ago was backing this promising young rapper. I say rapper because I don't really consider him a lyricist. He has witty lines and a decent delivery. By the time he debuted the video for what would be better called "Breast I Ever Had" I had all but lost interest. Seriously, jugs galore won't distract everyone- just mostly everyone. Who's fault is it? I dunno. But if Video Killed the Radio Star, then Radio should definitely do a bid for killing the Young Money Star before he truly got it poppin'. Just my two copper coins on this matter.
Out.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you Jayne. I kept hearing the name Drake and never knew what he looked like, never heard his music until he was gracing the airwaves in heavy rotation. But times have definitely changed with the way the music industry has promoted artist. They used to take their time making sure they had the right product to promote as they had a department in every label that developed artist. Today, their is no such thing as artist development. I admire Drake because he is a triple threat (rapper, singer, songwriter). And also for the fact that he financed his own project to make a name for himself. Another thing labels are not doing which is financing artist to get a decent project. The standard now is to find an artist who has established a name for themselves before getting a record deal. But today's music is still in transition as yet it steadily evolves with the creativity of the individual. I'm just waiting for the next person to come and carbon copy his blueprint for success. Overall, Drake is talented but his downfall will be the overexposure. They are giving to much of him too soon. I enjoy listening to his music but there are plenty of other talented artist that need to get some shine on the airwaves so we can continue to appreciate what he is bringing to the music industry. Let's just hope he can stand (no pun intended) on his own a little longer before he is completely filtered out.
Well put. He is a triple threat but he's about to burn out before he even really gets a chance to shine if he's not careful. I like his music too- but that kind of rotation and exposure would make anybody sick- immense talent notwithstanding. Let's hope he falls back for second. It's for his own good.
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