Thursday 2 July 2015

#tbt / wakey wakey here comes drakey


Don't panic, Drake's just being dramatic, it's never too late.  

Social media has created a virtual time machine for us so that we can still bop our heads to music that is more than three months old, and still be in with the cool kids. Our time machine - in the form of our favourite day of the week #tbt - sends us back to 12th February 2015, when Drake smeared 'fuck you' at Cash Money Records front door and delighted the world with a seventeen track mixtape that he can finally be proud of. 

Drake's last offerings in the form of the melancholy Nothing Was The Same back in 2013 left me feeling a little emotionally uncomfortable, it was a full length album of pity weaved into silky hooks and solemn 16's. It was textbook break up wallowing with no end in sight, it was almost frustrating to listen to the whole way through. But then 2015 came along, and by the sounds of it Drizzy may have had one gin too many and as a result If You're Reading This was born.

Drake's music often coincides with being emotionally candour, and If You're Reading This is no exception but the difference being, is that this is the most removed and least self deprecating. The mixtape is laced with grit and a hard done by arrogance, which you can back up, when you can say you've sold 495,000 copies of your music in three days, I mean, what you have you done in three days? With endless memes and internet mockery it's a world known fact that Drake wears his heart on his sleeve, and 'Preach' makes no mistake in poking fun at that fact 'niggas is all in their feelings these days, all in their feelings these days' but now the emotions talk back and they're attacking with synths that would melt the coldest of critics. For the first time I'm ready to take my phone out and tweet 'Hi my name is Esmeralda and I'm a Drakoholic' because with one liners like ''my ex asked me, 'Where you movin to?' I said, 'On to better things'' it deserved nothing less than praise.























Since its release, no musical experience is even worth mentioning unless you've chanted 'running through the six with my woes' with such conviction that even the scrawny white girl in the corner could pass off as cool aka me. From Benton's festival DJ set to a sweaty and regrettable evening in Oceana, Drake has managed to maintain his commercial success all the way back from 'Crew Love' and has picked up a myriad of critical acclaim along the way.

'Now and Forever' feeds to the rumours that there is trouble in paradise with Cash Money Records, the grass always seems greener on the other side with Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj hoping for a nicer lawn. It seems Drake is trying to buy himself out the his four album contract with the record label as well as having a very public pre-break up tantrum. If You're Reading This raises a lot of unanswered questions on the business front but nonetheless Drake makes it abundantly clear in '6pm In New York' that he's putting Cash Money through the ringer, ''lets drop a tape on these niggas and see what's up''. Lets just hope Cash Money have buckled in safely, it's going to be a bumpy ride. One thing is crystal clear though, the corporate suits might be fucked but at least the fans aka me are happy.


Essential One Liners: I'm too good with these words watch a nigga backtrack / The new shit on steroids, I would never pass a physical / I got strippers in my life, but they virgins to me. 

No comments:

Post a Comment