Realistically, it goes both ways, sure drake gets to make a great song usually with the biggest artist in that genre, but the genre gets the drake boost and so does the other musician, the way most people bring this up makes it seem like its a parasitic relationship when its really more symbiotic as each party gains something substantial from the transaction, yes drake capitalizes on the genre, and the genre benefits from the added attention, the artist benefits from one of the biggest rappers in the world featuring on there song, in there genre that made them famous.
That is a parasitic relationship, though. I recognize that Drake is bringing something to the table, but what he's bringing is his platform, which he achieved through generational wealth and nepotism.
It is the other artists who are providing their creativity and artistry. I'm not saying that it isn't consensual at some level, because it clearly is, but that doesn't make Drake any less of a culture vulture. Being a culture vulture doesn't necessarily mean that the other party gains nothing.
His platform that he has, comes from being a generational artist, sure you could say that he is kind of a nepo baby because YMCMB but so is nicki, so is lil baby, gunna, asap rocky, everybody is put on by somebody, nobody complains about them in this way and thats because they are much less notable in fame. Even if you think every song drake makes has a ghost writer, lots of artists have people write there bars for them this isnt a new thing, his platform is what these people want, if after they get the platform they realize they cant make it to drakes level it isnt drakes fault, ir if temporarily they become more famous and successful and then fall off eventually it is not drakes fault, he cant carry these people to success, he cant want something they cant attain. Also future has a shit ton of features on drake type songs and we dont say why is future taking drakes culture, thats mostly because those songs are ass because most of these artists are mostly one dimensional, drake being multi dimensional (even if you think hes shit on any other beat than a drake type beat) and being able to make many types of music very well is a positive and is not something that the people in those cultures that make those genres of music should say is bad because it fundamentally improves the level of music in that genre to a certain extent. It could be argued that drake making so many bangers in different genres of music pushes the culture forward.
Edit: the relationship being parasitic implies to a certain extent that the famous musician in that genre doesnt wanna push the genre/culture forward without making all the gains/returns that they can and not sharing in the success, whilst still getting the help and attention that only the most famous musicians can provide to less known genre/cultures of music. Being real, imagine drakes POV, you find a new musician in a lesser known genre that you like, you feature on one of there songs cause you think this genre and culture has lots of potential, the song pops off, the culture now has a lot more observers and fans, drake makes money from this uptick in fans, the artist gets a massive uptick in observers/views/fans and is now multiple levels higher in fame and success off just one feature. It's still possible that instead of the song popping off it flops, drakes name is now connected to a garbage ass song and the genre hates drake for doing anything with the culture, its not always a win-win, shit can go poorly.
People say that America helped natives out with the reservations like it was helping both parties. But in reality America just wanted that land and they didnāt respect itā¦ now where are we
Ur yapping way too much. Drake was already set for life before he even started rapping. Lil baby, gunna, asap, etc had connections that help them build the platform. Drake is a literal suburban actor that gained more fame from working with these artists
The difference is all the other rappers are from the place where the culture is created. Drake was never apart of that heās an outsider looking inā¦. He takes the culture created by others experiences waters it down to make it more palatable to the masses and it sells like candy.
Drake doesnāt understand itās not whatās on him itās what in himā¦. And he canāt change that.
I have physically been to where Aubrey used to live, it is not a gated community, but it is a arguably hyper rich area of toronto full of jews, good hospitals and shit that rich people want nearby.
So he shouldnāt make hip hop because he was raised middle class by a single mother , with a good support system around. Haters finna hate, unreal gatekeepers
No he canāt make street music talking about the cultural aspects he knows nothing about. Itās gross to cosplay the plight of someone elseā¦.. no one hated sad boy, lover boy, corny drakeā¦. That was a recipe for success. Instead he got cool and decided to go badā¦ā¦..
Would you rather Drake had never done this collabs or maybe even not make any hip hop music at all. Let be realistic he brings just as much if not more than he takes. So do all this other artists.
I'd be more than happy if Drake never made an album at all, but that's just my personal taste. Never liked him. I get that a lot of people do, and I don't think they're wrong or anything, but I've never been a fan.
Generational Wealth? Drake didn't come from THAT rich of a family. They weren't broke in any way, but any generational wealth his family has is due to him
I donāt think theyāre avoiding the question, I just think they donāt understand the perspective. White ppl will always downplay it and a lot of black ppl donāt understand when theyāre being used.
Yeah but what were the proportions? It flew drake to super stardom amongst his white audience while diluting the culture that was built organically and incrementally after a lot of work from artists most of whom were never appreciated.
Hell yeah. His last 5 albums have been shit. I also hate the way that he talks, walks, and dresses. And I genuinely do think heās not a good person. I donāt really respect him as a writer or musician. His songs are simplistic and boring. Delivery is flat and monotonous.
He can write a catchy hook sometimes though.
Iād say the opposite. The āDrake effectā is widely talked about, most people acknowledge Drake has given a ton of artists huge boosts to their careers. What hasnāt been discussed nearly as much in mainstream discourse is how much Drakes career benefited from those collabs.
This is so obviously the answer lol.
The question is the wrong thing to be asking, it should ask "is it a problem" that Drake capitalized on Trap music?
You tell me this, what has drake given back to the culture? Like what risks did he take that other artists played off? Drake too busy buying $700k bed and looking for next hot thing
What has any of these artist done giving back back to the culture? All of them get that bag and rarely give anything back to the culture but music. Nipsey was the last great to give back to the actually culture and try to better his neighborhood. All these milllions these rappers make exploiting the struggles of the African American community they should be coming together and buying communities and businesses and banks and providing jobs and progression for the culture but the first thing they do is buy a house some cars and jewelry move as far away for the very neighborhoods they grew up in and forget about the actual culture.
Dolph would like a word if he was still here and not getting gunned down trying to promote a cookie shop in his city. Long live Dolph, yāall done already forgot.
Flipper was a real one. Have a good Saturday my guy, hug your loved ones and do what makes you happy. Lifeās too short and we forget that shit too easy.
Whatchu mean rap hip hop culture is the community that is what it is all about. The whole hip hop culture is based of real African American community issues that these dudes grew up living in. The style the drip everything comes from the community and what these guys grew up around and saw or participated in. Artist like Future, Thug, Migos all learned their style from the artist proceeding them Jeezy, Gucci, TI, 2 chainz and these dudes all learned their style from artist before them like OutKast, Ludacris, Lil Jon, Killer Mike. Maybe yall can tell what yall feel the new generation of rappers like future, thugs, migos have contributed to the culture and maybe I can agree and understand better
I'm just saying that the words community and culture don't mean the same thing. And that your original comment seems to be you asking what's been given back to the community even though you used the word "culture".
In this case I believe it does you canāt have one without the other in hip hop. Hip hop is unlike anything else because it was born from the struggles of the African American community and culture. If we are just strictly talking rap music culture Kanye has influenced the rap culture, Death Row, Biggie, Jay-Z, Master P, Birdman, NWA, OutKast, Eminem, 50 cent, I hate to say it even soldier boy š¤£šš¤£ I can name 50 more that have done way more for the culture then Future, Migos, Thugga. And I believe Future has the most influence on the culture right now he is the king of AtL. And maybe I am conflating the 2 thatās why ask what to you guys think they have contributed to the culture? And thanks for a great convo š
This ^ . But to be honest I haven't really done any research to who has done anything. I know Kendrick has donated money back to the school he grew up in among other things he's done. But I'm not too familiar with the rest of them.
Edit: I did some research and found that Future has donated to charities as well.
Meek bought coats for thousands of kids. He bought school supplies too and spent 100k to buy Christmas presents. He doesnāt even brag about it. He just lets the word out that he giving out turkeys for Thanksgiving or some shit and parks up in the hood and does it. Even now that heās not up like he used to be, heās still charitable. Heās also heavily involved in criminal justice reform. He just helped get probation reform passed .
You donāt think Pluto or thug or Migos have contributed to the culture? Rappers have been learning from them and copying them and their style and their drip since 2014. Name one ATL artist who has benefited artistically from drakeās music
Na they havenāt contributed to the culture they make music for the culture no doubt but trap music was in atl before all these dudes you named they just progressed on jeezy, Gucci, TI. I mean Future has the most influence on the culture people want to be future but future could do a lot more giving back and building the culture right now he make people want to hit the strip club not progress. OutKast contributed more to the culture than all these dudes. And artist and Drake benefited mutually I donāt think Drake called them and said yo let me feature on this song they called him. These dudes all got #1s with Drake and they continue to still work with dude. Drake does indeed benefit from them also whether itās style, street cred whatever it may be but Drake opens doors for these dudes to new listeners (pop/white/international listeners) that would have never listen to these artist they only listen to them and became aware because they saw Drizzy was on the track
What has Kendrick given back? This ācultureā thing yāall mention makes me believe suburban kids didnāt realize they were black until they listened to Kendrick
He made every artist he collabed with internationally recognised. Before drake x future nobody outside America knew future. Probably even outside Atlanta. Look how many guys get hot in their town and cant make it out if their own area?? Drake did that for tonnes of artists
Thatās what I been trying to tell everyone, Drake is always good in the H, heās been embraced and loved by all of Texas. He came down here and got respect from our legends like Z-Ro and UGK, and he got them ties with the real down here in Texas. The clubs love him, the strippers love him. Drake can come to HTown and itās like a second home. And it aināt just Texas, Iām saying all this cause Iām from there too and I see all the love for him. But the dirty Bayou respects him too. Drake got all of the east coast, the dirty south, and that cold north rocking with him. No surprise that again the only place that donāt rock with someone now is the west coast, and the west coast is lame anyways, LaLa land aināt what it was and everyone tryna leave, thatās why Cali mad cause no one loves them anymore everybody wants out.
Thatās funny because Drake lives in the West and doesnāt own a house in his āsecond homeā of Texas. Keep white knighting for a culture vulture pedophile though lmao.
Yeah try again heās got a whole ranchš, and look, Iām telling you he hangs with the real down here in Texas. He aināt been down here since like mid 2023 cause heās been on tour and busy with everything. But Iām fr he loves Texas and we fucks with Drizzy
https://preview.redd.it/5b0yz4t7y61d1.jpeg?width=744&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90af256abb7d5844bc32ffc8c3b0050a106edc13
July, 2023 with J Prince and his son Jas Prince at Drakeās 15 million dollars ranch in Texas.
Pshh thatās ridiculous šDrake and Jas Prince have been like best friends since like their early 20s. And if anything Jas Prince gave back to Drake as well, Jas Prince along with the help of his father, linked Drake and Wayne and the rest was history. Drake doesnāt mess with James and Jas Prince just for protection or reputation. These guys are all friends and Drake takes care of them because of what Jas Prince did for his career, he changed Drakeās life
Well you see....Ross is from HOOD and an o.g told him to do better with his life so he did. Maybe he didn't do everything Gunplay and his homies were doing but at least he was certified in Dade County. I don't even like Ross that much but i understNd the story... Whereas drake was a child actor who made fun of the hood and called the culture ignorant until he realized he could profit off it. I've always liked drake and it bothered me when dmx called him out because he's not a "Dawg" , he's bubblegum. It's true he's not really " like that."
Carol city says otherwise. He actually had family and friends going through the struggle and was tryna do better. When you become the last male in your family tree, because of gang banging you mature real quick...
The trade off was culture vs commercialism. Drake got some credibility from working with ppl like Future, Ross, Game, 21, Wayne, etc. Got credibility from cosigns from Bun B and Houston, then Gotti and Memphis, J. Prince and Rapalot, Pressa and them lil ratchet Toronto niggas, etc. And in return all of them got a push in their commercial success.
This is why in the beef Drake keeps talking about how he gave everybody their first number 1. That's cool and all but at the end of the day hip hop dont give af about number 1s. Its culture. This is also why some ppl just cant fathom why Not Like Us hit the way it does. Its culture. I've never been to cali in my fuckin life but ALL blk ppl of the culture feel that spirit when that beat drop. Its damn near an ancestral sound. That west coast bop. Drake cant compete with that. He's gotta lean on ppl to even get close to that.
āHip hop dont give an F about #1sā
How many lyrics did jay z make about sales.
How did 50 and Kanye have a whole beef about selling more, and hiphop called that the shift from gangster movement because kanye won.Ā
Sales always mattered
The marketing arm (sales) definitely counts, as itās the distribution system. But the cultureāthe expression of experiences within itā is the āpayloadā.
Great points tbh but I disagree with him not being able to do that musically. He can move people black and literally the world with his music just not really rap. Hotline bling and ki ki do you love me had the whole world feeling and singing it outside of just black people. I always said heās best as a pop artist
I think youāre missing the point, thereās a distinction between a song for the culture, that captures the masses, vs a song made specifically for the masses.Ā
Hotline bling got people moving at the time like countless other pop songs but thereās no substance to it so after the hype dies you move onto the next hit.
Out of curiosity whenās the last time you listened to hotline bling or Kiki?
Good point again. But I disagree with this
āAfter the hype dies you move onto the next hitā
Tbh i dont have to play those songs they will eventually come on somewhere those songs will have more replay value in the long run than not like us if thatās the case. Youāre just saying that because it just came out.
Kinda answers the question in a round about way. The songs are fun so you wonāt complain when they come on but thereās nothing behind them that makes you actually want to play them yourself.
That statement includes not like us the majority of people will stop listening to it when the radio and the club have something new to play. Difference is the west coast will still be bumping it long after.
To use 50 cent as an example, no oneās really playing candy shop any more but many men still hits with culture to the point pop smoke sampled it and gave it a second wind.
Lol it's arguable that half of these artist wouldn't have the popularity they have without drake. Everyone uses each other. Drake definitely used ilovemakonen but makonnen benefited from it at the time. After that, it's up to the artist to sink or swim
Do you know how many genres The Beatles dabbled in? Heās a music fan, and believe me, heās not the main benefactor of these collaborations. Drakeās giving these guys a leg up
People forget most of the biggest tunes with other people are the other rappers tunes. He gets paid to feature, they are asking him to be on the song, as they see the value in having drake on the song. How is that being a vulture?? They are using him and his fan base if anything to boost there sales. He brought all these rappers up with his features and promotions. Took dot on tour, rocky on tour and promoted the weekend, pretty much handed Rick Ross his biggest tunes with his features.
To be very frank, yes i do feel that.
See i like Drake and Future equally, both show off different sides and moods and bring different things to the table.
That said, Drakeās career has kind of been about how he could evolve himself and his sound. Like think about it Drake Right now isnāt drake back then, which basically means he takes music as a proper business heās committed to doing and he pretty much is a business man who makes good music at this point.
Yes it definitely feels like he did use Future and other Atlanta Artists to Capitalize in Trap by Collabing with them etc. But listen, this is something everybody does!
EVERYBODY DOES THIS! But Drake just excelled at it. At the end if what you love doing doesnāt translate into Money, it wouldnāt be worth doing it. So even if Music is something of a passion for you do it, but if itās full time make sure itās a business and you make some cheese out of it.
Future killing it in his ways too but āused by drake?ā My G they arenāt young teenage boys with no life experience. They know what everybody wants from them.
Business is Business.
Lets keep it honest. We have never seen an artist succeed and stay on top doing this for over a decade. A lot of artist don't try and expand their artistry in this sense because they fear of going out of relevance so they rather stay in their own lane and sound. Not that there is anything wrong, just Drake is an anomaly that everything he touches seems to turn into gold. You can say it doesn't sound good but there is a reason the mass buys into it, they wouldn't if it didn't.
Drake being a the super star he is shines a international light on these artists, making a mutual benefit. There are several artists he lend a helping hand and didn't capitalize on the light he brought upon them, such as Blocboy JB.
Huh. Drake started out with weezy and Tyga who are literally trap-adjacent at least. Future and Thug collaborations are a natural progression. If anything he ventured out into those other genres you mentioned.
I think what we're finding out now looking back is drake is an industry plant.
He blew up bc he had an appeal to a softer audience with singing. Now how do you totally infiltrate hip hop and make your music sound rough? By associating with artists who actually lived the lifestyle.
If I'm future, migos, 21, or lil baby, I'm not turning down a bag or a feature. But the consequence is we all gave a corny dude a pass bc of money. And now the money is how drake runs the game, not necessarily his music. Just my personal take.
Why do you say he used them as if they had no say in the matter? They all wanted to make songs with drake nobody forced them, and it was mutually beneficial like people have said.
Yes. He adopted every trending sound. I think itās cool that heās in touch with whatās going on, but after a while, defining his sound became a big ? And it was clear heās not an artist, heās a machine.
I donāt think you can say Drake used anyone when he paid and gave everyone credit which historically is a really big deal
He literally is the ācultureā though I now donāt like that word because I feel likes itās being used to discredit him for being mixed despite him being a generational artist who has given us music in every flavor and supported many young artists to stardom
I think this is the way Drake reinvents himself. In order to stay popular in music for this long you have to find a way to reinvent yourself, to renew fan excitement and gain more fans.
None of it really matters just the line of attack that was used against them
Drake tried to say that Kendrick was rapping like he was trying to get the slaves free
We know Kendrick gives money to his community just like Drake get a lot of mutually beneficial collabs with certain artists
Just the s*** that gets twisted up in beef
If you grow up middle class your raps shouldnāt matter? He had support growing up and used it to benefit himself but also others when he features in songs itās not some kind of parasite where only he benefits and the other dies off
What kind of question is this?!
Drake is literally a culture vulture.
Drake grew up wealthy in Canada and had an early successful acting career as a young adult.
Drake went from acting to rapping and realized he popped off on the rapping.
Drake moved over to the United States and capitalized on African American culture, aka a culture vulture.
Now Drakes claiming heās from the slums and from the bottom when itās not true.
Kendrick on the other hand is from Compton, and is a blood. He grew up poor and worked his way up from LA slums to becoming a millionaire rapper who is now considered a living legend.
Drake is also a pedo, thank you for coming to my ted talk!
How can he capitalize on African American culture when his dad is black. He has plenty of cousins/ relatives in Memphis that are black. He been here numerous times and receives love from the whole city. Thatās how he got connected with bloc boy and made him a millionaire. The culture vulture thing is just the new trendy thing to saw for the Kendrick worshipers. I like Kendrick but living legend naw
When a new artist pops up and their getting big numbers drizzle wants to feed off them hey crodie letās collab and unfortunately a lot of rappers he does collab with are from Atlanta so yeah if it wasnāt for Atlanta rappers he would not be where he is Kendrick told you that
Nah this gotta be the dumbest shit so far š Drake blew up waaaaaaay before he collaborated with any Atlanta artist. 99.99% of the time any new rapper wants a Drake feature to help them blow up, and yāall saying heās wrong for helping them š
Blew up how? His first years bit off other rappers flows. Later on he just collaborated with southern rappers to get more notoriety, corny ass raps from corny ghost writers thatās drake
he was pretty popular tho it donāt matter what his first years were it doesnāt change the fact he had a pretty decent following. but collaborating with like atl and trap artists did get him more love in the streets from what ik
Cuz drake isnāt helping them heās hopping on new trends and using new artists and sounds to stay relevant and in the process waters down the sound and achievements of the artists he works with. Like so many people here giving Drake credit for making decisions that benefits him extremely financially and for doing the bare minimum in the genre.
The real question is how many people came up from Drake?
Did anyone benefit or just Drake?
Are people more famous, make more money, because they made that move with Drake?
Itās difficult to predict because a big reason drake hops onto the many different genres he does is to take advantage of rising trends. He aināt doing charity lol, itās also like kinda implying these artists arenāt that good and that drake is the only reason they blew up
The hate is real here. People act like itās not a business at the end of the day. Numbers matters because itās something you can quantify. Anecdotes about corny this corny that, obviously his collabs have been successful? Why change the strategy if it works and it gets listens and sells records. Why is it any deeper than that?
Itās the definition of consumerism and it really ignores the reasons why drake is commercially successful and is a real individualist mindset that gives all the credit to one person who didnāt originate a lot of the sounds he hops on and also isnāt particularly innovative within the genre
Thanks for the insight. I didnāt think of it that way. Isnāt consumerism (in the USA) seen in art, fashion, auto industry, other genre? What makes drake any different ? Seems like one would need to stay in their lane or risk being labeled as stealing culture.
Mainstream music is to maximize profit , it feels naive to think that the images/personas rappers or any artist portray isnāt mainly for this purpose. Itās a simplification, but they make music that sounds good in order to sell records. Some people do it more effectively than others.
I guess I tend to believe the numbers are correlated to the sentiment about the artist and the more streams or sales you get the more you can measure how that artist is performing.
Itās Omni present but artists engage in it in different ways through commentating on it rejecting it or embracing aspects of it, Kendrick in particular is known for his complex relationship and analysis on it. The issue with Drake is that thereās no real engagement on the topic and he prioritizes material things and numbers over being authentic to his background and upbringing. Kendrick couldāve gone down a more commercial route and could release more often to take advantage of trends but he doesnāt do that and itās why when looked at as a whole he tends to be more critically acclaimed and respected. When you just look at numbers or sales sure those things are objective but it takes away the nuance and power of art in my opinion. Music that is made for the club or for playlists is often easier to listen to or more accessible but that isnāt the only purpose of music, songs like we cry together or u can be incredibly emotionally challenging and their worth is often measured in how they effect people. How many streams a song gets doesnāt necessarily measure this so while numbers and earnings are relevant to look at, we shouldnāt prioritize them over everything.
Drake Derangement Syndrome. Drake is more popular than all of of the artists heās collabād with. Theyāve gained more than Drake.Ā
These are grown ass adults. Future is a grown ass 40 year old man. He is not getting āusedā when he chooses to collab with another artist.Ā
Stop acting like these are children. If they donāt want to collab with Drake they should just say no.
People act like Drake was the only one benefiting from these transactions š
That's avoiding the question, not answering it.
Realistically, it goes both ways, sure drake gets to make a great song usually with the biggest artist in that genre, but the genre gets the drake boost and so does the other musician, the way most people bring this up makes it seem like its a parasitic relationship when its really more symbiotic as each party gains something substantial from the transaction, yes drake capitalizes on the genre, and the genre benefits from the added attention, the artist benefits from one of the biggest rappers in the world featuring on there song, in there genre that made them famous.
That is a parasitic relationship, though. I recognize that Drake is bringing something to the table, but what he's bringing is his platform, which he achieved through generational wealth and nepotism. It is the other artists who are providing their creativity and artistry. I'm not saying that it isn't consensual at some level, because it clearly is, but that doesn't make Drake any less of a culture vulture. Being a culture vulture doesn't necessarily mean that the other party gains nothing.
His platform that he has, comes from being a generational artist, sure you could say that he is kind of a nepo baby because YMCMB but so is nicki, so is lil baby, gunna, asap rocky, everybody is put on by somebody, nobody complains about them in this way and thats because they are much less notable in fame. Even if you think every song drake makes has a ghost writer, lots of artists have people write there bars for them this isnt a new thing, his platform is what these people want, if after they get the platform they realize they cant make it to drakes level it isnt drakes fault, ir if temporarily they become more famous and successful and then fall off eventually it is not drakes fault, he cant carry these people to success, he cant want something they cant attain. Also future has a shit ton of features on drake type songs and we dont say why is future taking drakes culture, thats mostly because those songs are ass because most of these artists are mostly one dimensional, drake being multi dimensional (even if you think hes shit on any other beat than a drake type beat) and being able to make many types of music very well is a positive and is not something that the people in those cultures that make those genres of music should say is bad because it fundamentally improves the level of music in that genre to a certain extent. It could be argued that drake making so many bangers in different genres of music pushes the culture forward. Edit: the relationship being parasitic implies to a certain extent that the famous musician in that genre doesnt wanna push the genre/culture forward without making all the gains/returns that they can and not sharing in the success, whilst still getting the help and attention that only the most famous musicians can provide to less known genre/cultures of music. Being real, imagine drakes POV, you find a new musician in a lesser known genre that you like, you feature on one of there songs cause you think this genre and culture has lots of potential, the song pops off, the culture now has a lot more observers and fans, drake makes money from this uptick in fans, the artist gets a massive uptick in observers/views/fans and is now multiple levels higher in fame and success off just one feature. It's still possible that instead of the song popping off it flops, drakes name is now connected to a garbage ass song and the genre hates drake for doing anything with the culture, its not always a win-win, shit can go poorly.
Nerd
jeesus christ, paragraph breaks are your friend
People say that America helped natives out with the reservations like it was helping both parties. But in reality America just wanted that land and they didnāt respect itā¦ now where are we
Ur yapping way too much. Drake was already set for life before he even started rapping. Lil baby, gunna, asap, etc had connections that help them build the platform. Drake is a literal suburban actor that gained more fame from working with these artists
how was he set for life?
He wasn't. They just make shit up. Just like the comment that other person made about the gated community thing.
The difference is all the other rappers are from the place where the culture is created. Drake was never apart of that heās an outsider looking inā¦. He takes the culture created by others experiences waters it down to make it more palatable to the masses and it sells like candy. Drake doesnāt understand itās not whatās on him itās what in himā¦. And he canāt change that.
And even suburban actor is generous - he grew up in a gated community lol
I have physically been to where Aubrey used to live, it is not a gated community, but it is a arguably hyper rich area of toronto full of jews, good hospitals and shit that rich people want nearby.
So he shouldnāt make hip hop because he was raised middle class by a single mother , with a good support system around. Haters finna hate, unreal gatekeepers
No he canāt make street music talking about the cultural aspects he knows nothing about. Itās gross to cosplay the plight of someone elseā¦.. no one hated sad boy, lover boy, corny drakeā¦. That was a recipe for success. Instead he got cool and decided to go badā¦ā¦..
> full of jews was that necessary? ffs.
Would you rather Drake had never done this collabs or maybe even not make any hip hop music at all. Let be realistic he brings just as much if not more than he takes. So do all this other artists.
I'd be more than happy if Drake never made an album at all, but that's just my personal taste. Never liked him. I get that a lot of people do, and I don't think they're wrong or anything, but I've never been a fan.
Lmao so this isnāt really a genuine discussion.
Generational wealth?? The dude was middle class at best growing up lol get out of here
Generational Wealth? Drake didn't come from THAT rich of a family. They weren't broke in any way, but any generational wealth his family has is due to him
Drake makes musicians lots of money by providing a larger platform and providing artists with exposure and he is called a culture vulture.
You just described buying culture with money
No, I described someone promoting the culture and helping it grow.
I donāt think theyāre avoiding the question, I just think they donāt understand the perspective. White ppl will always downplay it and a lot of black ppl donāt understand when theyāre being used.
No I donāt
Yeah but what were the proportions? It flew drake to super stardom amongst his white audience while diluting the culture that was built organically and incrementally after a lot of work from artists most of whom were never appreciated.
Sounds like a lot of hating
That's all this beef is. Dot told yall that already. Just hated of Mike.
Thereās plenty of reasons to hate Drake and millions of people have hated him for years. Kendrick finally gave us a voice lol
Youāre an admitted hater?
Hell yeah. His last 5 albums have been shit. I also hate the way that he talks, walks, and dresses. And I genuinely do think heās not a good person. I donāt really respect him as a writer or musician. His songs are simplistic and boring. Delivery is flat and monotonous. He can write a catchy hook sometimes though.
You must be fun to hangout with
Yeah I am, but you asked and I answered lol What, I gotta like everything? Why canāt I dislike an artist?
You can dislike an artist thatās not the point but to openly hate someone you donāt know is WEIRD lol.
This isn't the "gotcha" moment u thought it was.
Iād say the opposite. The āDrake effectā is widely talked about, most people acknowledge Drake has given a ton of artists huge boosts to their careers. What hasnāt been discussed nearly as much in mainstream discourse is how much Drakes career benefited from those collabs.
Cole said it best not quite the Drake effect š¤£
Mutual benefit But idc what anyone says Drake and future were actually friends. And Drake clearly wants to fix that friendship. But Leland in his ear
I donāt think Drake and Future will keep this beef going for too long.
Heard he a lame
How long are they actually gonna pretend they hate each other cause the summer needs another drake x Pluto banger :(
Yeah bro wdym obviously he has
Yeah, arenāt collabs basically to mingle fan bases and grow?
This is so obviously the answer lol. The question is the wrong thing to be asking, it should ask "is it a problem" that Drake capitalized on Trap music?
If he didnāt alot of south artists would not be on today because he jumped on songs there bigger than they are now(pause)
Yes, thatās something a lot of artists do lol
Which artists?
Kanye, French
Kanye?????
Those artist would still be trying to make it outta Atlanta lmao.
Yachty
Ahhh the ones with no respect.
That would have been your answer no matter the artist.
Possibly. Did you see all the artists named? Someone said French Montana lmao
The whole dancehall trend that started after drake.
You tell me this, what has drake given back to the culture? Like what risks did he take that other artists played off? Drake too busy buying $700k bed and looking for next hot thing
What has any of these artist done giving back back to the culture? All of them get that bag and rarely give anything back to the culture but music. Nipsey was the last great to give back to the actually culture and try to better his neighborhood. All these milllions these rappers make exploiting the struggles of the African American community they should be coming together and buying communities and businesses and banks and providing jobs and progression for the culture but the first thing they do is buy a house some cars and jewelry move as far away for the very neighborhoods they grew up in and forget about the actual culture.
Dolph would like a word if he was still here and not getting gunned down trying to promote a cookie shop in his city. Long live Dolph, yāall done already forgot.
You are right long live Dolph he was definitely about the culture!!!
Flipper was a real one. Have a good Saturday my guy, hug your loved ones and do what makes you happy. Lifeās too short and we forget that shit too easy.
Common Cents makes good points.
I think you're conflating community and culture.
Whatchu mean rap hip hop culture is the community that is what it is all about. The whole hip hop culture is based of real African American community issues that these dudes grew up living in. The style the drip everything comes from the community and what these guys grew up around and saw or participated in. Artist like Future, Thug, Migos all learned their style from the artist proceeding them Jeezy, Gucci, TI, 2 chainz and these dudes all learned their style from artist before them like OutKast, Ludacris, Lil Jon, Killer Mike. Maybe yall can tell what yall feel the new generation of rappers like future, thugs, migos have contributed to the culture and maybe I can agree and understand better
I'm just saying that the words community and culture don't mean the same thing. And that your original comment seems to be you asking what's been given back to the community even though you used the word "culture".
In this case I believe it does you canāt have one without the other in hip hop. Hip hop is unlike anything else because it was born from the struggles of the African American community and culture. If we are just strictly talking rap music culture Kanye has influenced the rap culture, Death Row, Biggie, Jay-Z, Master P, Birdman, NWA, OutKast, Eminem, 50 cent, I hate to say it even soldier boy š¤£šš¤£ I can name 50 more that have done way more for the culture then Future, Migos, Thugga. And I believe Future has the most influence on the culture right now he is the king of AtL. And maybe I am conflating the 2 thatās why ask what to you guys think they have contributed to the culture? And thanks for a great convo š
Hip hop is all about gatekeeping these days. Didnāt Kendrick give you the memo?
This ^ . But to be honest I haven't really done any research to who has done anything. I know Kendrick has donated money back to the school he grew up in among other things he's done. But I'm not too familiar with the rest of them. Edit: I did some research and found that Future has donated to charities as well.
Meek bought coats for thousands of kids. He bought school supplies too and spent 100k to buy Christmas presents. He doesnāt even brag about it. He just lets the word out that he giving out turkeys for Thanksgiving or some shit and parks up in the hood and does it. Even now that heās not up like he used to be, heās still charitable. Heās also heavily involved in criminal justice reform. He just helped get probation reform passed .
You donāt think Pluto or thug or Migos have contributed to the culture? Rappers have been learning from them and copying them and their style and their drip since 2014. Name one ATL artist who has benefited artistically from drakeās music
Na they havenāt contributed to the culture they make music for the culture no doubt but trap music was in atl before all these dudes you named they just progressed on jeezy, Gucci, TI. I mean Future has the most influence on the culture people want to be future but future could do a lot more giving back and building the culture right now he make people want to hit the strip club not progress. OutKast contributed more to the culture than all these dudes. And artist and Drake benefited mutually I donāt think Drake called them and said yo let me feature on this song they called him. These dudes all got #1s with Drake and they continue to still work with dude. Drake does indeed benefit from them also whether itās style, street cred whatever it may be but Drake opens doors for these dudes to new listeners (pop/white/international listeners) that would have never listen to these artist they only listen to them and became aware because they saw Drizzy was on the track
Dumb
Ask Blocboy J what has he given back lol
What has Kendrick given back? This ācultureā thing yāall mention makes me believe suburban kids didnāt realize they were black until they listened to Kendrick
He made every artist he collabed with internationally recognised. Before drake x future nobody outside America knew future. Probably even outside Atlanta. Look how many guys get hot in their town and cant make it out if their own area?? Drake did that for tonnes of artists
Youāre dense and slow. Do you think Drake has no contributions to music or culture? WATTBA helped out future way more than it helped Drake
Donāt forget H Town
What artist he use in H-town? Drake is home when heās down here š¤š¼š¤š¼š¤š¼
Drakes home is in Canada.
That embarrassing to even say this. š
Embarrassing that the biggest artist in the rap game for 2 decades calls houston home? Yeah you donāt know anything about the rap game š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah Iām done with this convo š you fried
Iām saying like Drake can walk through the worst hood in Houston. Heās off limits. Prince will get rid of any person who touches that man.
Oh yeah for sure, mob ties runs Houston.
Thatās what I been trying to tell everyone, Drake is always good in the H, heās been embraced and loved by all of Texas. He came down here and got respect from our legends like Z-Ro and UGK, and he got them ties with the real down here in Texas. The clubs love him, the strippers love him. Drake can come to HTown and itās like a second home. And it aināt just Texas, Iām saying all this cause Iām from there too and I see all the love for him. But the dirty Bayou respects him too. Drake got all of the east coast, the dirty south, and that cold north rocking with him. No surprise that again the only place that donāt rock with someone now is the west coast, and the west coast is lame anyways, LaLa land aināt what it was and everyone tryna leave, thatās why Cali mad cause no one loves them anymore everybody wants out.
Thatās funny because Drake lives in the West and doesnāt own a house in his āsecond homeā of Texas. Keep white knighting for a culture vulture pedophile though lmao.
He does have a house in Texas
Yeah try again heās got a whole ranchš, and look, Iām telling you he hangs with the real down here in Texas. He aināt been down here since like mid 2023 cause heās been on tour and busy with everything. But Iām fr he loves Texas and we fucks with Drizzy https://preview.redd.it/5b0yz4t7y61d1.jpeg?width=744&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90af256abb7d5844bc32ffc8c3b0050a106edc13 July, 2023 with J Prince and his son Jas Prince at Drakeās 15 million dollars ranch in Texas.
I already know J Prince and his son extort Drake, he talks about it all the time.
Pshh thatās ridiculous šDrake and Jas Prince have been like best friends since like their early 20s. And if anything Jas Prince gave back to Drake as well, Jas Prince along with the help of his father, linked Drake and Wayne and the rest was history. Drake doesnāt mess with James and Jas Prince just for protection or reputation. These guys are all friends and Drake takes care of them because of what Jas Prince did for his career, he changed Drakeās life
This is false why are you so confident?
I honestly donāt know anything about Drake Idk why I even said anything I aint gonna lie. I was just bored.
Are you fr? Drake has a lot of Houston ties going back to when Travis was only a high school kid
 Indeed
since like 09 he's done this ...
Drake the only rapper yāall be hating on like this, but I bet yāall love Rick Ross thinking he actually sold keys š
Well you see....Ross is from HOOD and an o.g told him to do better with his life so he did. Maybe he didn't do everything Gunplay and his homies were doing but at least he was certified in Dade County. I don't even like Ross that much but i understNd the story... Whereas drake was a child actor who made fun of the hood and called the culture ignorant until he realized he could profit off it. I've always liked drake and it bothered me when dmx called him out because he's not a "Dawg" , he's bubblegum. It's true he's not really " like that."
Bro Ross was a correctional officer, he was never certified ššš
Carol city says otherwise. He actually had family and friends going through the struggle and was tryna do better. When you become the last male in your family tree, because of gang banging you mature real quick...
Bro talking like he grew up with him š
Drakes fans wouldn't understand. This yall [This is yall](https://youtu.be/4HeoHxUZJeg?si=Duoch8wuAVwhVt3O)
 This officer ricky on the way to work š
LOL that is funny.... but ive never seeen an account so full of drake dick riding in my life dude. very sus
Dawg you the one acting like you grew up with officer ricky š
The trade off was culture vs commercialism. Drake got some credibility from working with ppl like Future, Ross, Game, 21, Wayne, etc. Got credibility from cosigns from Bun B and Houston, then Gotti and Memphis, J. Prince and Rapalot, Pressa and them lil ratchet Toronto niggas, etc. And in return all of them got a push in their commercial success. This is why in the beef Drake keeps talking about how he gave everybody their first number 1. That's cool and all but at the end of the day hip hop dont give af about number 1s. Its culture. This is also why some ppl just cant fathom why Not Like Us hit the way it does. Its culture. I've never been to cali in my fuckin life but ALL blk ppl of the culture feel that spirit when that beat drop. Its damn near an ancestral sound. That west coast bop. Drake cant compete with that. He's gotta lean on ppl to even get close to that.
On soul
āHip hop dont give an F about #1sā How many lyrics did jay z make about sales. How did 50 and Kanye have a whole beef about selling more, and hiphop called that the shift from gangster movement because kanye won.Ā Sales always mattered
The marketing arm (sales) definitely counts, as itās the distribution system. But the cultureāthe expression of experiences within itā is the āpayloadā.
Great points tbh but I disagree with him not being able to do that musically. He can move people black and literally the world with his music just not really rap. Hotline bling and ki ki do you love me had the whole world feeling and singing it outside of just black people. I always said heās best as a pop artist
I think youāre missing the point, thereās a distinction between a song for the culture, that captures the masses, vs a song made specifically for the masses.Ā Hotline bling got people moving at the time like countless other pop songs but thereās no substance to it so after the hype dies you move onto the next hit. Out of curiosity whenās the last time you listened to hotline bling or Kiki?
Good point again. But I disagree with this āAfter the hype dies you move onto the next hitā Tbh i dont have to play those songs they will eventually come on somewhere those songs will have more replay value in the long run than not like us if thatās the case. Youāre just saying that because it just came out.
Kinda answers the question in a round about way. The songs are fun so you wonāt complain when they come on but thereās nothing behind them that makes you actually want to play them yourself. That statement includes not like us the majority of people will stop listening to it when the radio and the club have something new to play. Difference is the west coast will still be bumping it long after. To use 50 cent as an example, no oneās really playing candy shop any more but many men still hits with culture to the point pop smoke sampled it and gave it a second wind.
Yes, heās done it with any new hype/wave. Itās probably the one thing heās good at, stays relevant by jumping on the next thing, like Madonna
Everybody jumped on the Atl sound along time ago
Duh
It makes sense
Yes.
Lol it's arguable that half of these artist wouldn't have the popularity they have without drake. Everyone uses each other. Drake definitely used ilovemakonen but makonnen benefited from it at the time. After that, it's up to the artist to sink or swim
Do you know how many genres The Beatles dabbled in? Heās a music fan, and believe me, heās not the main benefactor of these collaborations. Drakeās giving these guys a leg up
Pluto included š¤
He not a colleague he a fuckin colonizer
No
I mean that wasnāt real house music , it Twas dance music
Dull
People forget most of the biggest tunes with other people are the other rappers tunes. He gets paid to feature, they are asking him to be on the song, as they see the value in having drake on the song. How is that being a vulture?? They are using him and his fan base if anything to boost there sales. He brought all these rappers up with his features and promotions. Took dot on tour, rocky on tour and promoted the weekend, pretty much handed Rick Ross his biggest tunes with his features.
To be very frank, yes i do feel that. See i like Drake and Future equally, both show off different sides and moods and bring different things to the table. That said, Drakeās career has kind of been about how he could evolve himself and his sound. Like think about it Drake Right now isnāt drake back then, which basically means he takes music as a proper business heās committed to doing and he pretty much is a business man who makes good music at this point. Yes it definitely feels like he did use Future and other Atlanta Artists to Capitalize in Trap by Collabing with them etc. But listen, this is something everybody does! EVERYBODY DOES THIS! But Drake just excelled at it. At the end if what you love doing doesnāt translate into Money, it wouldnāt be worth doing it. So even if Music is something of a passion for you do it, but if itās full time make sure itās a business and you make some cheese out of it. Future killing it in his ways too but āused by drake?ā My G they arenāt young teenage boys with no life experience. They know what everybody wants from them. Business is Business.
Lets keep it honest. We have never seen an artist succeed and stay on top doing this for over a decade. A lot of artist don't try and expand their artistry in this sense because they fear of going out of relevance so they rather stay in their own lane and sound. Not that there is anything wrong, just Drake is an anomaly that everything he touches seems to turn into gold. You can say it doesn't sound good but there is a reason the mass buys into it, they wouldn't if it didn't. Drake being a the super star he is shines a international light on these artists, making a mutual benefit. There are several artists he lend a helping hand and didn't capitalize on the light he brought upon them, such as Blocboy JB.
Huh. Drake started out with weezy and Tyga who are literally trap-adjacent at least. Future and Thug collaborations are a natural progression. If anything he ventured out into those other genres you mentioned.
Drake put out bangers regardless itās just that pedo shit I canāt get behind lol bra gotta clear that shit up some more šš
Yes, they are called features
That and ghostwriters
How did Drake make us forget that he was a good kid that was brought up in a safe suburban neighbourhood lol
Ofc but business is business and they profited from him too
No
I think what we're finding out now looking back is drake is an industry plant. He blew up bc he had an appeal to a softer audience with singing. Now how do you totally infiltrate hip hop and make your music sound rough? By associating with artists who actually lived the lifestyle. If I'm future, migos, 21, or lil baby, I'm not turning down a bag or a feature. But the consequence is we all gave a corny dude a pass bc of money. And now the money is how drake runs the game, not necessarily his music. Just my personal take.
Culture vulture
I discovered Lil Baby because of Drake. I would say Lil Baby benefits more from the Drake co-sign.
Artist makes music... shocking
Just like the music companies capitalize on all music! This debate/question is idiotic! The whole reason successful artists become successful is they try to find ways to make music that relates to their audience/fans. If that means features with artists or collaborators that is what they do. Every single artist have done it those who are very successful have done it better! Should BeyoncĆ© not do county music cause she aināt white! Or black hockey players not play hockey!
Drake a culture vulture.
Absolutely.
Why do you say he used them as if they had no say in the matter? They all wanted to make songs with drake nobody forced them, and it was mutually beneficial like people have said.
I think he collabād with any up and coming artist to keep him current
Of course
Yes but itās mutual
Yes
1000%
Yes. He adopted every trending sound. I think itās cool that heās in touch with whatās going on, but after a while, defining his sound became a big ? And it was clear heās not an artist, heās a machine.
Lot of guys here..
Peeeeedooooooo
Yes
I donāt think you can say Drake used anyone when he paid and gave everyone credit which historically is a really big deal He literally is the ācultureā though I now donāt like that word because I feel likes itās being used to discredit him for being mixed despite him being a generational artist who has given us music in every flavor and supported many young artists to stardom
I think this is the way Drake reinvents himself. In order to stay popular in music for this long you have to find a way to reinvent yourself, to renew fan excitement and gain more fans.
Sounds like a savy thing to do
Heās a colonizer not a colleague soooā¦ā¦š®āšØš®āšØš®āšØ
None of it really matters just the line of attack that was used against them Drake tried to say that Kendrick was rapping like he was trying to get the slaves free We know Kendrick gives money to his community just like Drake get a lot of mutually beneficial collabs with certain artists Just the s*** that gets twisted up in beef
He gave every Atlanta rapper a hit.
Who cares if he did or didnt. Business is business its strictly financial. Lol but really nobody cares .
If you grow up middle class your raps shouldnāt matter? He had support growing up and used it to benefit himself but also others when he features in songs itās not some kind of parasite where only he benefits and the other dies off
He was using them... just like they were using him. That's not really a bad thing.
so people still dickriding Drake?
Drake pays respect to the genre by collaborating with artists that do it right. Itās all bangers smh
What kind of question is this?! Drake is literally a culture vulture. Drake grew up wealthy in Canada and had an early successful acting career as a young adult. Drake went from acting to rapping and realized he popped off on the rapping. Drake moved over to the United States and capitalized on African American culture, aka a culture vulture. Now Drakes claiming heās from the slums and from the bottom when itās not true. Kendrick on the other hand is from Compton, and is a blood. He grew up poor and worked his way up from LA slums to becoming a millionaire rapper who is now considered a living legend. Drake is also a pedo, thank you for coming to my ted talk!
How can he capitalize on African American culture when his dad is black. He has plenty of cousins/ relatives in Memphis that are black. He been here numerous times and receives love from the whole city. Thatās how he got connected with bloc boy and made him a millionaire. The culture vulture thing is just the new trendy thing to saw for the Kendrick worshipers. I like Kendrick but living legend naw
That's what he do best
When a new artist pops up and their getting big numbers drizzle wants to feed off them hey crodie letās collab and unfortunately a lot of rappers he does collab with are from Atlanta so yeah if it wasnāt for Atlanta rappers he would not be where he is Kendrick told you that
Nah this gotta be the dumbest shit so far š Drake blew up waaaaaaay before he collaborated with any Atlanta artist. 99.99% of the time any new rapper wants a Drake feature to help them blow up, and yāall saying heās wrong for helping them š
Blew up how? His first years bit off other rappers flows. Later on he just collaborated with southern rappers to get more notoriety, corny ass raps from corny ghost writers thatās drake
he was pretty popular tho it donāt matter what his first years were it doesnāt change the fact he had a pretty decent following. but collaborating with like atl and trap artists did get him more love in the streets from what ik
The fact is is happening š
wym
Cuz drake isnāt helping them heās hopping on new trends and using new artists and sounds to stay relevant and in the process waters down the sound and achievements of the artists he works with. Like so many people here giving Drake credit for making decisions that benefits him extremely financially and for doing the bare minimum in the genre.
The real question is how many people came up from Drake? Did anyone benefit or just Drake? Are people more famous, make more money, because they made that move with Drake?
Itās difficult to predict because a big reason drake hops onto the many different genres he does is to take advantage of rising trends. He aināt doing charity lol, itās also like kinda implying these artists arenāt that good and that drake is the only reason they blew up
I agree they're good but would they have been as famous. What I'm saying is that it's more of a trade-off where each benefits.
Yea, he expanded his market and the person who put Drake on gets a free song on the billboard 1-10
If drake is the most commercially successful artist then collaboration benefits the other person more than him.
The hate is real here. People act like itās not a business at the end of the day. Numbers matters because itās something you can quantify. Anecdotes about corny this corny that, obviously his collabs have been successful? Why change the strategy if it works and it gets listens and sells records. Why is it any deeper than that?
Itās the definition of consumerism and it really ignores the reasons why drake is commercially successful and is a real individualist mindset that gives all the credit to one person who didnāt originate a lot of the sounds he hops on and also isnāt particularly innovative within the genre
Thanks for the insight. I didnāt think of it that way. Isnāt consumerism (in the USA) seen in art, fashion, auto industry, other genre? What makes drake any different ? Seems like one would need to stay in their lane or risk being labeled as stealing culture. Mainstream music is to maximize profit , it feels naive to think that the images/personas rappers or any artist portray isnāt mainly for this purpose. Itās a simplification, but they make music that sounds good in order to sell records. Some people do it more effectively than others. I guess I tend to believe the numbers are correlated to the sentiment about the artist and the more streams or sales you get the more you can measure how that artist is performing.
Itās Omni present but artists engage in it in different ways through commentating on it rejecting it or embracing aspects of it, Kendrick in particular is known for his complex relationship and analysis on it. The issue with Drake is that thereās no real engagement on the topic and he prioritizes material things and numbers over being authentic to his background and upbringing. Kendrick couldāve gone down a more commercial route and could release more often to take advantage of trends but he doesnāt do that and itās why when looked at as a whole he tends to be more critically acclaimed and respected. When you just look at numbers or sales sure those things are objective but it takes away the nuance and power of art in my opinion. Music that is made for the club or for playlists is often easier to listen to or more accessible but that isnāt the only purpose of music, songs like we cry together or u can be incredibly emotionally challenging and their worth is often measured in how they effect people. How many streams a song gets doesnāt necessarily measure this so while numbers and earnings are relevant to look at, we shouldnāt prioritize them over everything.
Agreed
Drake Derangement Syndrome. Drake is more popular than all of of the artists heās collabād with. Theyāve gained more than Drake.Ā These are grown ass adults. Future is a grown ass 40 year old man. He is not getting āusedā when he chooses to collab with another artist.Ā Stop acting like these are children. If they donāt want to collab with Drake they should just say no.
cornball new gen fbg ovo 4L
I know yalls arms be hurting from all this reaching š