Thursday, July 12, 2012

Why is Drake popular?

I have grown up being surrounded by many different genres of music from pop to rock, dance to rap. Every style of music forms from a certain way of life. It's chosen by the artist as a means to communicate with their listeners in a sound that is complimentary.

Rap has been an everchanging genre that has blended musical styles from newer dance and club sounds in the recent years. I remember listening to the Fat Boys, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and other groups the were around in the mid to late 80's. They were all amazing in their own right having unique sounds that set them apart from their competition.

What I don't get is this phenomenon with newer rappers such as Drake. When compared to such heavy hitters like Ice T, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Notorious BIG, and so on, Drake really has nothing to offer. He lacks skill and prose and when I hear anything by him, all I'm hearing is some guy talking, adding in a half hearted laugh here and there. His "style" is lazy and his voice is devoid of any emotion. I don't get any sense whatsoever that he even cares about what he's rapping about.

I know he's not alone in this abomination of modern rap music, but his publicity deems him the biggest target. I would rather listen to P Diddy (or whatever his name is now). Sorry, Puff, but you're a much better entrepeneur than a rapper.

Hopefully things will change and weed out the slew of talentless tripe we are forced to tolerate now. Drake really does put the "rap" in "crap."