“Never Thought I’d be Writing from this Perspective”

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/14/entertainment/drake-raptors-win-new-music-trnd/index.html
This one really hurts. Cause deep down I'm a huge fan. A huge fan! And I do truly, TRULY hope that one day he can again consistently produce the caliber of music which made me and millions of others cap so hard for the better half a decade.

But I cannot tell a lie. Aubrey Drake Graham dropped his, quite frankly, stellar 3rd studio album "Nothing was the Same" (NWTS) in 2013. And since that day nothing has been the same in his career. Now I'll be the first to admit, this is not a take shared by many and I appreciate that. But to me the rapper has been unable to live up to that high point and since then has been on a steady, depressing decline. It has gotten to the point where I personally find it offensive to the game for people to still consider him a top 10 rapper in the game.

Now I will give Aubrey this. He would likely disagree and would have all the numbers to prove me wrong. And I'll admit, his celebrity sits at an all-time high and his star power seems to be unflappable. I mean think about the blackface picture on "The Story of Adidon" cover did little to no lasting damage. However, my contention has nothing to with numbers or star power, my issue is with content, substance & lyrics.

Drake has fallen into a trap where rather giving us drawn out stories and schemes he gives us catchy one liners and thinks his job is done. 

I mean lets look back. He once upon a time painted the portrait of his break-up pains over the ENTIRETY of the "Take Care" album. And if we go deeper still he would do the same in his songs. Remember, Marvin's Room was a near 7 minute diatribe expressing his pain and suffering. It was relateable. It was personal. It was Drake. And thus, it stands the test of time as one of his greater works of art.

 But he seems to have lost this skill and traded in the art of storytelling for quick one line quotables for people to put on Instagram. And don't get me wrong that in itself is a skill which many rappers wish they could possess. But I really struggle to reconcile the fact that Drake who, as aforementioned once gave us whole albums. Not Songs. ALBUMS. Addressing heartbreak and his personal relationships; reduced his commentary on his son to "I wasn't hidin' my kid from the world, I was hidin' the world from my kid." Like, come on. Let's be honest. He can do better. 

 Or at least he could once upon a time.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/651051689851999352/

Now I'll give him credit for this on occasion he has shown flashes of the Drake that dominated the first half of this decade: "Diplomatic Immunity", "Duppy Freestyle" & "Sicko Mode" in 2018 all stand out as highlights and as confirmation that he still has Hall of Fame talent. Even as recently as "Omerta", Drake has shown that on occasions he's still got it. However, if you're only truly able to connect and resonate through throw away singles and Travis Scott produced features I have to truly question if you even deserve top spot anymore.

And look as I've said many times, Drake and some of you reading probably won't care and you'll probably say I'm wrong and call me a hater. And I'm okay with that I understand the difference of opinion here. As I write this I am just learning that Drake has passed the Beatles number of top 10 hits and he's 4 top 10 hits away from having the most all-time. And as a fan of hip-hop, it's truly amazing to see the genre which was once nearly banned, rewriting the record books and I commend Drake for so much of that and how far he has stretched the game. It is not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. However, I just wish he would rap more. I would happily trade in "Kiki, Do you love me?" for "I might be too strung out on compliments". You can have, "She say do you love me? I tell her only partly", I'll keep "Ok, look, I'm honest. Girl, I can't lie, I miss you."

I guess what I'm saying is, I miss the old Drizzy, straight from the soul Drizzy.

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