Hate It Or Love It: A Hip Hop Analysis Of Drake

Edwyn Huang, Hiphopdx.com

This guys needs a 90’s gangsta rap cliche (stat!) so he can be happy and stop writing about today’s music.

Like many, I’m a Drake fan but I don’t think he’s the new hip hop savior or anything like that (my current ‘new class’ favs are Wale, Bobby Ray & Blu tho). Drake kinda reminds me of a sangin’, less hardcore Big Daddy Kane the way he switches up pleasing the ladies and massaging a 16.  He’s done it well so far.

I don’t think Mr. Edwyn Huang has ever listened to a Drake mixtape or anything outside of his singles. Drake’s popular for his ‘girl songs’ but anybody that listens to him knows that’s not all he makes. The nigga can rap and Huang didn’t make an argument against that because he can’t. Drake has dope rhymes and dope songs. You can dislike what he makes but you can’t say it’s unmerited because the very fact that he has 3 projects out and does shows gives him merit.There’s a lane for every artist these days but all lanes are not equal. Accept that and you’ll find you won’t have room to complain about today’s hip hop music.

Mr. Huang seems to have a problem with how fast Drake’s risen (in his eyes) but this is a new era where the old rules for rising to the top don’t apply anymore. If Drake’s album drops and it sucks then I can partially understand the critique but I didn’t read a valid critique of Drake’s actual body of work (albeit three mixtapes) in this “analysis.”  Huang’s arguments seem to be,
Drake only makes songs for girls (wrong but what if he did?)
Drake has no perspective (wrong, see The Calm, etc)
He rose too fast (but he says that’s ok for Kid Cudi….o….k?)

Mr. Huang seems to be pissed that the old school barometers of street credibility and scars from the NYC battling cirlces no longer apply.  He makes passes for the guys of recent success that didn’t go through that ie Kanye and Cudi, but seems to feel Drake is the last straw.  Huang can’t let this mulatto kid from Canada get a pass!  After all he apologizes to his Mom and couldn’t get it up in his teen drama show so he can’t possibly make Hip Hop music for 30-something males like me!  Therefore he doesn’t deserve to be successful and is a represenation of everything wrong with the hip hop music today!

Come back with less filler and actual facts.