Drake - So Underated

[Macca]

Aubrey Graham, better known as the rapper Drake, has had a standout year, by anyone's standards.

After the smash hit collabration with KanYe, Weezy and Em on "Forever", has gone on to release his first major album "Thank Me Later". (Not that this is his first major collections of songs, with prior mixtapes including "Comeback Season" and "So Far Gone") The album sold over 400,000 units, the biggest selling hip hop record of 2010 (until it was outdone by Eminem's "Recovery" just one week later). He's shown versatility with songs like "Over" and "Congratulations" showcasing some of the best rapping currently being put out in the mainstream, while songs like "Houstatlantavegas" and "Find Your Love" shows more of the smooth R'n'B vocals Drake has in him. The kid seems to have it made.

But there still seems to be some in the rap scene and it's fans that seem to give Drake a bad name. My question is: Why is that?

Is it because of his association with Lil Wayne and Young Money? Is it because he's not a prior ********, but rather a tech-savvy college student who would rather rap about love and philosophical issues that young men his age face in this day and age, instead of ice and pussy? It is because he's Canadian? Or because of his ethnic background?

The dude's certainly no Soulja Boy or Justin Bieber. And he certainly doesn't sound like 50, or Flo-Rida. He's more in the same vain as a Lupe, or a Jay-Z, or a Kanye, or even a Talib Kweli.

So what's the deal? I'll post some songs up soon for those who haven't had a chance to hear from the scribe known as Drake.

 

[Hazardous]

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about , for why I couldn't wait for your release. Knew there would be some good threads like this.

I love Drake's music, there has not been a point since 2007 that I have not had a Drake song on my ipod. There's a hip-hop website that the artists put their music up for download (PM me if you want it) and Drake is one I always look forward to listening to. You were right in how he can switch his style. Rap, Soul, R&B, POP anything and everything.

Why do I think he has a bit of a bad name? Well, IMO it's a combo of things. The partnership with Lil'Wayne is one. A lot of fans don't like Wayne, or his style. They then have the same hate towards those who is around him. Stupid I know.

Being Canadian does not help. It didn't work for Choclair, or Classified. Unless you're a pop singer (Beiber, Avril) or a Rock group (Nickelback, Rush) then no one cares. No one seems to take Canadian Hip-Hop serious, because they don't have the same "style" as other mainstream ones. But is that a bad thing? or a good thing? In a day of watered down artists, is it not a good thing to get someone who does things that is out of the normal?

 

[Big Sexy]

He's more in the same vain as a Lupe, or a Jay-Z, or a Kanye, or even a Talib Kweli.

Drake is no where near the levels of those guys. Well, currently Kanye West is pretty much shit so he may be on his level as of now but definitely not the other guys. Drake isn't a bad rapper by any means but he isn't necessarily that great either. His flow just doesn't compare to the best rappers in the game. You put him up against guys like Lupe, Talib, Nas, Jay Z, Em, Royce, etc.. and he just doesn't compare.

I also don't get how you can in any way say he is underrated when everyone and their brother completely drools over this dude calling him "the best rapper in the game today" and other outlandish statements. If anything the guy is overrated. Again, he isn't bad by any means but he most certainly is not an elite rapper.

 

[Ty Burna]

Drake is an elite rapper now? Holy shit I've been missing out. Not really, his punchlines aren't that great and lyrically he can't compare to a lot of the real elite rappers in the game. Now why does Drake get a bad name from the hardcore hip hop heads (such as Big Sexy and myself)?

Honestly he's not all bad, just that he's average and overrated, not underrated. With all the press and media attention he gets from everyone, there's no way to even claim he's underrated. Even media outlets that have no idea about hip hop sit and claim Drake the future of hip hop when all I've seen is him catering to the mainstream hip hop fans. You can contribute this immediate attention to his tie in with Lil Wayne as well as Kanye West speaking highly of him, so he had a ton of hype without ever releasing a damn song. It's great to have a huge media machine hyping you up, so naturally every "critic" out there is going to jump on the bandwagon.

This is why the old school hip hop heads dislike him as much as we do. Because we know artists that have worked their asses off to receive the acclaim they did. They didn't get hyped up like Drake did without releasing a song or album. We're more familiar with artists who have a breakout album first before getting proclaimed as a great artist, Drake was hyped up to be a great artist before he even released anything. Following up on this Drake (and others) proclaim him to be the greatest rapper already when others that have the right to be called the greatest have catalogs of material and put in their dues to reach the top. Releasing one album and riding the wave of hype surrounding you does not classify you as the greatest, not by any means. When the likes of Eminem and Nas have released a plethora of albums that have far exceeded anything Drake has or will do, reasonably you cannot say Drake is the future of hip hop when he can't even compare to the old guard.

Yes he's better than Souljah Boy and all the shit hip hop that's out there. But he's no where close to those at the top of the game, and I don't see him ever reaching that point. Not when we got the top rappers in the game still putting out classic albums and a ton of other new artists that are better than Drake along the lines of Crooked I and Joell Ortiz. Drake is in that average class of rappers, and it will take quite a bit to ever reach the level of Eminem, Nas, Wu Tang Clan, etc. Lyrically he's decent but he would really need to step it up and not rely on the punchlines so often. Often times rappers that rely mostly on punchlines don't last long in the mainstream eye, they may have one hit song and then fall off quite a bit. Case in point Lil Flip. Basically all his rhymes are punchlines and he had the one good hit with Game Over and now he's stuck releasing mediocre mixtape after mixtape. Drake needs to step his game up if he wants to be considered part of the top echelon of hip hop stars.

 

[Clark Kent]

I was just talking to my friend about this yesterday.

I think Ty and Sexy pretty much made my arguement, but let's see. I agree with Sexy in that Drake is no way near Jay-Z or Talib Kweli. I don't even think he's at Kanye's level right now. Kanye is my favorite so I am biased, but he is about to release a new album that's supposed to be like his older one's, so we'll see who's better. Plus, if you compare their first albums, there's no competition. Thank Me Later can't hold a candle to The College Dropout.

Drake is also getting enough praise from fans to not be considered underrated. He's probably the hottest rapper out there now that Lil Wayne is in jail. In my opinion, they both aren't great. Sure they both got some good one liners every now and then, but that's not enough to win me over. I really when they both say they mean every thing say in their raps. I'm sorry, but most of Wayne's raps are no where near serious and Drake is what 23? Cry me a river dude. He whine's way too much for having money most of his life.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Drake. I just think, if anything, he's overrated. He's a pretty good rapper all in all, but he's gotta step up. He's definately the best thing Young Money has, but that doesn't say much. His biggest probelm is he thinks he's doing everything right. Once he realizes he's not, I think he'll grow. If his next album sounds the same as this, I will lose all hope.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

If anything Drake is ridiculously overrated. He's really just another pop artist who "raps" about the same shit that has been rapped about a million times. His style is just weird, it doesn't really flow, and the punchlines he drops are just pitiful. I heard a song of his the other day that started with "First name greatest, last name ever." Really?

Drake is very overrated, and like all these other chumps, doesn't even deserve to be called an emcee.

 

[goodlay]

If anything Drake is ridiculously overrated. He's really just another pop artist who "raps" about the same shit that has been rapped about a million times. His style is just weird, it doesn't really flow, and the punchlines he drops are just pitiful. I heard a song of his the other day that started with "First name greatest, last name ever." Really?

Drake is very overrated, and like all these other chumps, doesn't even deserve to be called an emcee.

This.

If anything, Drake is just another one of those shitty mainstream artists that thinks he's a true rapper. I'll take any other mainstream hip hop/rap artist like Eminem, Wayne, Kid Cudi, etc. over Drake's weak shit.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

If anything Drake is ridiculously overrated. He's really just another pop artist who "raps" about the same shit that has been rapped about a million times. His style is just weird, it doesn't really flow, and the punchlines he drops are just pitiful. I heard a song of his the other day that started with "First name greatest, last name ever." Really?

Drake is very overrated, and like all these other chumps, doesn't even deserve to be called an emcee.

THANK YOU!

I think Drake is vastly overrated and I can't stand him he's just another mainstream pop rap artist or raps about the same stuff over and over again. I can't him or his music. Just no point to it whatsoever.

If anything, Drake is just another one of those shitty mainstream artists that thinks he's a true rapper. I'll take any other mainstream hip hop/rap artist like Eminem, Wayne, Kid Cudi, etc. over Drake's weak shit.

Indeed.