Alicia returns the favor on his album it looks like....
Two things....
First, I see a lot of people who like to type about those bloggers that like to be 'first' with things. Now, what I find funny about that is it is only usually said about shit that they don't 'have an interest in'/or have fooled with and put down and moved on from. When it comes to things that they have an interest though, they are the FIRST to tell you they were on it when you finally catch up to it, accuse people of being sheep or some other sideswipe type talk. Just something that I have noticed.
Second thing is the second part of this post. Originally, this was going to be a separate blog post altogether. I have changed my mind though after careful thought. (See, sometimes I do think before I speak.) I will just offer up this person's viewpoint of Drake.
Good GRADE A dislike here..Allow me to put up an excerpt and you can go read the rest here. Thank you Fire100 for forwarding this to me on Twitter yesterday...(Even though I know you don't like Drake either..lol)
Here is a piece of what was said in the link in case you are thinking "Why should I click that?"
"From his faux-Southern accent to his corporate-funded “street buzz,” Drake has been perfectly prepped to become hip-hop’s version of a boy band. Take one look at Drake and you can almost hear the calculations of greedy record execs looking for the next crossover act: Preexisting white fanbase: check. Exotic Ethnic Background: check. Light Skin: check. Celebrity Cosigners: check.
And the list goes on… Sadly, such paint-by-the-numbers thinking not only forces Drake into the public sphere, but also excludes more gifted artists who don’t fit neatly into the prefigured boxes of industry honchos.
While the aforementioned reasons are sufficient to warrant my Drake hate, my biggest issue stems from his decision to sign with Universal Motown in June 2009. At the point that Drake signed the deal, he had already become one of the hottest rappers in the country. In addition to high visibility, Drake already had an independently functioning infrastructure around him for full-fledged marketing, promotion, and distribution of future projects. In other words, as DJ Skee pointed out “Drake had already successfully done everything a major label could by himself.”
Now for some of you, this is EXACTLY how you feel about Drake I suspect. Which is fine. You can not like him. I will say some of these reasons are unfounded but eh..if this is what you need to make sure you don't like what 'everyone else likes'......do you.
(Chuckles) Fake accent? That is funny. Some of you are in your feelings about your childhood on that one or some other underlying issue. The man has a father from Memphis. He left when he was 5 but stayed in contact with him. Is it that far fetched to think that the man who was his ACTIVE father (even through the two years of jail) was an 'influence' in his kid's life? As hard as it may be for some of you to fathom, sometimes this situation produces a relationship between a father and son that the son emulates a bit. Look, I know his reality is not YOUR REALITY. That doesn't make it false. It just doesn't. If you can't relate, you can't relate. The boy spent formative time in the South. Bound to pick up some things. Leave it at that. Let me ask you this. Are you running up on your Jamaican friend, who has lived on the same block as you since you were 2 years old, calling him fake when he breaks out in patios? Even though he has only been to Jamaica a grand total of 5 times in his twenty plus years on this Earth? He is from (insert your city that is NOT IN JAMAICA here please). Is he fake? is his Momma fake even though she has been here for the last fifty years herself? Oh..okay...Thought not. Ya'll niggas kill me with this shit...
'Industry created buzz'
This one is a bemusing one to me too. For some of you SAME FOOLS that said to me 'Oh I have been up on Drake since 'Room For Improvement. You need to catch up...' WERE THE ONES HYPING HIM UP. Ironically, you are some of the same bitter beer faces crying about the fact that 'everyone likes him now' and that 'everyone has caught up'. You want it one way- Marlo.
There was no 'industry buzz' about the man from '06 to almost '09. That is three years for you mathematical geniuses out there. He was
in a group with Melanie Fiona as I am sure you all know. I don't have to call their name. YOU KNOW IT. The industry wasn't 'buzzing' about him then. All of that really didn't start until after So Far Gone
and TRULY not until a certain song hit the radio some almost three years after he made his first mixtape with Smallz. You guys are acting like he made the first mixtape and POOF....he magically appeared, people started co-signing him and he went on tour all in one shot. smh. Ya'll are funny as mofo with that shit....Especially some of you who I am finding out are 'former aspiring' artists. Your slip is showing. Pull up your skirt man. Now if the current MC that you are championing went the same EXACT ROUTE and got on in that amount of time, you would be hollering :'Bout time...What took the World so long?"
The label thing....
I have heard this one a couple of times too. Eloquently put up top actually. I have to hand it to that writer. I will say this though. All of you 'self righteous' people who want things done for the greater good of the game have not been NEARLY AS CRITICAL about those that you admire who have fucked up the game. Be it with the music. Be it with blowing label money on bullshit. Signing those very contracts that you wanted Drake to turn down. All of the sudden, the 'whole recording world as far as hip hop is concerned' future is 'decided' by whether he signed a contract or not? Really? GTFOHWTBS. He is his own man. He can do want he wants. You just said he was 'over hyped' two seconds ago. Now he because he has the 'power' you want him to turn around and do some shit YOU WANT HIM TO DO? Fuck would he do that for? For you? Why? I don't blame him. He has never declared himself the 'Martin Luther King' of this shit. Why should he 'roll the dice on his future' so that a few of you cynics can be happy that he didn't 'sign to the machine."? For who? For what?- Ricky Waters. Again...ya'll kill me with this shit.
See, I am not tied to a publication so I can say what I want. You want to 'call the young man' out 'his bullshit'? Cool. The same can be done with you and your bullshit. Hate the kid all you want. He is no Messiah but damm if he isn't talented. He isn't killing cats on every song. His message is 'clean and wholesome' but he truly isn't hurting anybody. I don't see what the big issue is. Ya'll out here acting like you don't have a button on your radio or other music to be listening to. Or other people to discuss music with! There are PLENTY OF ARTISTS I don't fool with who are VERY POPULAR. I have to hear about them all the time. I have even had to 'listen' to their music due to the situation (club,car,what have you). I don't even waste font on them. Why? 'Cause I don't like them! I can't figure out some of you lack that gene...lol We get it. You don't like the young boy. Great. Here's a cookie shit....
"If you like him, I question your taste in your music...." or something along those lines. @ the flippant responses..
Judge me. PLEASE. I don't give a shit. My record (physical and mp3 files) rivals most DJs and I don't EVEN DJ. Yes, the collection gets play. All of it. Hell, I have forgotten more about this music shit then some of you KNOW off of the sheer fact that I was alive when all of the revered moments of this particular 'genre' were popping off. I know I have 'cause I have had to come into your discussions and 'fill in the blanks' for the parts that you 'heard about' from such and such or that some of you who are my age have 'forgotten'. So maybe that is why I scratch my head when the 'hate' about this young boy comes up. He has done nothing more than any other cat that has come through the game. He tried it a couple of times until it caught someone's attention. Some of the lesser mainstream acts liked him. Gave him a shot and helped him perfect his craft a bit. The buzz grew but not too big. It caught the attention of a BIGGER STAR and they HELPED put him on. Through that relationship 'regular' people (read: people who have OTHER things to do besides seek out music) began to like him and here we are now. That is how it happens people. It has always happened like this. Did we 'hate' Nas 'cause Large Professor put him onto us for the most part? What 'dues' did he really pay? C'mon people. Cut that shit out with the 'He hasn't really paid any dues'/it is all hype shit. Oh 'cause he was an actor? Is that what this bullshit is all about? You act like he came out in every other line and said "I am Jimmy from Degrassi, High...My buzz is like a major airport's purpose, Fly" or some shit. Lets not even get started on how much his 'flow' is criticized. You'd think he fucked cats girls or something...The way people get in their feelings about that. Cats didn't know who he was until they were told. Shit, some cats DIDN'T EVEN WATCH THE SHOW (and still judge him off of it btw). So that shit only really counts for so much to me. Then there all the spiteful discussions about what he makes on tour, is he blowing his advance, should he just sing or rap but not both.....Why? He makes songs. Either you like 'em or you don't. That's it. Everything else is bullshit really. Note I said 'spiteful' too. Every artist is up for discussion but it seems like every time this kid's name is mentioned it is a 'let me tear him down' fest. All because he isn't quoting 'The Art of War' or 'killing ten million people on one record'.....Shameful. Attacking the man's ethnic makeup and the whole nine. God forbid you people might start going in his mother next....smh This dude seems to bring out all types of insecurities in ninjas/ninjaettes alike I tell ya...
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