Drake has just released his fourth official album, Views. Given the new standards of RIAA certifications, and how much online streams equate into album sales, he has sold roughly 850-thousand in the first week. This is before considering that the album has no physical release yet. This is a massive achievement for most artists. But at this point, Drake isn't most artists. He's going for Mount Rushmore. He wants to be in those discussions worldwide. Hov, Em, Pac, Michael Jackson. Even 50 was there, albeit briefly. He wants to have that kind of aura. In a way he does. But right now he's in the intermediate phase. That's where guys like Kanye and Nas are. So given these sales numbers, he's Ye and Nas status. Amazing, awe-inspiring, but still not top of the heap. To be top of the heap you must be the complete package. Drake is missing three key elements.
1 - His past. Many people still look at him funny because of the Wheelchair Jimmy shit. There are tons of folks out there who say "When I hear Drake the first thing I think about is Degrassi."
2 - His personality. What is Drake all about? Who is he as a person? What, in that regard, do the common people have to latch on to? With Jay you have the guy who came from nothing and made something out of himself. Eminem is similar but also from a white male -- which remains the majority in America -- perspective. Michael Jackson we related to because of his traumatic childhood, revealing that what many of us dreamed for wasn't actually a good thing. With Drake you have someone who lived that dream and it was a good thing, the guy who has gotten every break and opportunity, the guy who never has to struggle. There's a built in resentment that comes with the admiration of him. It's like Superman. He can beat up everyone, and he saves the day, but there's always that part of you that roots for Lex Luthor. Lex you can relate to. Lex is human. Superman is from another planet. So seems Drake.
3 - His vision. What does Drake want this stage for? Why is he chasing the money, the lifestyle; why does he create? This is the biggest piece Drake is missing. Intermediate guys have a vision, one that typically revolves around making the world a better place. Nas wants to teach the youth, Ye wants to inspire creative-minded people. Michael Jackson wanted to spread love. Em, for a time, wanted to motivate young white America's political apathy; now he wants to inspire struggling addicts. Jay wants to be a role model for the young black male, to illustrate a way out of poverty and deprivation into business mogul. What does Drake want? More money. More sex. More drugs. Pure nihilism. That's a difficult thing for the average human being to latch onto on a deep level. Most people want money to be happy, but they don't want happiness just for themselves. Drake seems to.
When you combine these three elements, it becomes clear why Drake is where he is in the pantheon. How can he change this?
One, by embracing his past. He's done this in flashes, but not enough, and he always does it to make it seem like his life was hard. Life is hard to everyone, but he's had it easy compared to others. He has to acknowledge how great he had it, and then show us how difficult it still was. This is similar to Eminem making us feel bad for a multi-platinum celebrity; Kanye does this as well, Jay has touched on it, etc.
Two, by becoming more transparent. We need to know who Drake actually is. At this point all signs seem to lead to a narcissist with something of a god complex. What about him makes him relatable? Why should we be empathetic.
Three, he needs to illustrate what he wants with everything he has and has been given. He needs to give us a glimpse of the big picture, the grand scheme.
Items Two and Three are problematic, because they imply that Drake has something beyond the narcissism, and that he wants something more than what he keeps getting. These two things are not given. Far from it. The fact is, we could be dealing with a product of our society, our own pop-cultural Frankenstein. In this analogy, we the listeners are Dr. Frankenstein, and Drake is our monster; his revenge upon us is that he never gives us anything more than what we asked for. What we asked for is the life and times of a charismatic, artistically talented, rich young man. We have all of that -- except for the man. And maybe we can never get it.
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