So big news, it's Drake's 30th bday and as a present to us, he not only released 4 new tracks, but also announced he has a NEW project coming out in December called More Life along with a European Tour called The Boy Meets World.
With that being said, some controversy is following him and rightly so because in one of those 4 new songs (the diss track, 2 birds, 1 stone, where he takes aim at a couple other people that been dissing him) he takes a shot at rapper Kid Cudi, who inspired alot of people (including myself) to come out and speak about their battles with mental illness after he checked himself into rehab for depression and suicidal urges. He saves the last verse of this song to address Kid Cudi thusly:
My numbers are out of the world, no wonder they got me feeling so alienated You were the man on the moon, now you go through your phases Life of the angry and famous Rap like I know I’m the greatest and give you the tropical flavours Still never been on hiatus You stay xan and perked up so when reality set in you don’t gotta face it I’m down 200 in Vegas but winning in life on the daily It seems like no one wants to stay in my good graces I’m like a real estate agent, putting you niggas in your places Look what happens soon as you niggas talk to me crazy Is you crazy
Now, while Drake may be justified in going at Kid due to his diss of Drake before he announced his mental illness...using his illness to diss him is too far and surprisingly (and refreshingly), Drake is facing some serious blowback from fans on twitter.
As Drake gets bigger and bigger and the spins and numbers pile up, I think it's very important he remember why people like him: He's a nice guy.
Drake came out and was a walking meme, wether it was "Drake the type o' N*gga to" or "Sad Drake", people made fun of, but connected with the emotional nature of his music.
He never responded to it in any serious way, going on mad twitter rants or puffing up his chest, feeling "disrespected", he ignored it and just kept releasing the same type of honest music and the fans just kept eating it up. It made him a superstar. He coined terms (remember when you couldn't escape YOLO? and "The 6ix" isn't even his, he just made it popular), he set records and even though he was dissed for "always being sad", people lined up in droves to buy his music and his merchandise. Because ultimately, he was relatable and vulnerable.
Now I know what it's like for people to take your kindness for weakness and as someone who has and continues to feel that sting, I know that sometimes the retaliation we can put out is harsh and Kid Cudi did come at him first
But in these days and times of people being woke, Drake needs to remember that his heart and intelligence are what got people onside and while he has every right to defend himself, he has to be careful not to tarnish his "good guy" image, by ignoring that heart and intelligence.
Lets face it, Drake is the biggest thing in music. He has been since 2009. That's almost 10 years of chart topping dominance and he has no signs of slowing down. That's almost unheard of for a rap / urban artist. He's full blown pop now like Michael Jackson and Prince. He earned that. He's released dope album and guest track after guest track, but he's also been taking "the high road" against "subliminal" and overt attacks from other rappers & he's been pretty good with it.
People have been giving Drake the benefit of the doubt for his music, whether it be if he's writing his own rhymes or if his last album was truly as good as his sales suggest and in his beefs. Whatever it may be, as he gets bigger and bigger, Drake needs to find his anchor and realize that yes, people will hate against his success. But despite coming into the rap / music game as an underdog, he's overcome and strived because the fans have stuck with him.
With that being said, the only thing people love more than to see an underdog win is to see a winner lose.
He may want to keep himself in the publics good graces by not feeling himself too much to attack something that no doubt alot of people that listen to his music relate to: being in an emotionally vulnerable place. That's what got him to where he is and attacking that, just may finally give people a reason to start cheering for his downfall and not his continued rise.
KB