By Will Frankel, ’17, Op/Ed Section editor guest writing for Entertainment
After what feels like an eternity to most Drake fans, the release of the long awaited forthcoming album, “Views from the Six” is finally around the corner. In a 30 second twitter video that played like a trailer to the project, Drake promised an Apple Music exclusive release on Friday, April 29th. The video, consisting of still shots and short clips over Drake’s narration of short associating phrases, advertised the subject matter, as “the six”, “Raptors”, “New Ride. Old Ride”, “Bad Times. Good Times”, “Young Money. New Money”, “October”, “Festival”, and finally “Younger me. Older me. Me as Manny. Me as Jimmy. Me as Drake”, among other seemingly unrelated short ideas.
While Drake seems to be taking the shotgun approach to hyping the album, referencing just about every point of interest in his persona, this scatterbrained advertisement should be worrying to passionate hip-hop fans. The most important opportunity that Views offers Drake is the chance to finally present a cohesive artistic message in his recent projects. If he does, it could be the biggest moment in his career.
Though Drake and Kendrick Lamar are not in direct conflict (in fact, it’s possible that Kendrick will feature on Views), it is no secret that as the two biggest names in hip-hop, they have emerged as friendly rivals for the crown. Few serious hip-hop fans would deny that in terms of quality of music, Kendrick Lamar is unmatched. What makes him the best in the game is not only how his music sounds, but that he uses hip-hop for a message. Whether a commentary on the human condition, his hometown Compton, Black America, the music industry, or on himself and his career, every single project Kendrick has released seems to go above just catchy beats and clever rhymes for a higher appeal. The artistic power and deep poetry that discussed each of these issues in one finer message is what made Kendrick’s latest full album, “To Pimp a Butterfly”, an easy choice for hip-hop album of the year at the Grammys, the best choice, though not the final choice, for album of the year overall, and in the eyes of many, the hip-hop album of the generation.
Drake, on the other hand, is a pop culture force to be reckoned with. Neither Kendrick nor any other rapper can match his commercial dominance, popular appeal, social media presence, and cultural influence.
Drake literally renamed his hometown, Toronto, to “the six” by just saying it enough times. Ever heard someone say, “started from the bottom, no we’re here”? That’s Drake. Ever heard someone say, “0 to 100 real quick”? That’s Drake. “No New Friends”? “Running through the six with my woes”? “Club goin’ up on a Tuesday”? Even the popularization of the acronym “YOLO”. Every single one of those fads is a result of a song that Drake either made or featured in. Every time Drake does a dance in a music video, twitter timelines flood with edits and memes. Drake’s media influence is like a machine that he keeps pouring fuel into with smash singles and a hype circus to surround them. Regardless of musical quality and artistic message, Kendrick Lamar simply doesn’t rival this online following.
The refusal of Kendrick Lamar to play Drake’s game of dominating the internet gives Drake a chance to try to beat Kendrick at his game. Kendrick Lamar relies on his talents, and neglects working the internet, as evidenced by his totally surprise release of an untitled, unmastered, and un-hyped, album in March. Drake shows no sign of slowing down the hype machine online, but he continues to lag in artistic quality on his projects. His smatterings of singles and super-hyped albums may produce number one hits like Hotline Bling, but hip-hop enthusiasts walk away from listening to Drake having enjoyed the sound and little more.
Since Drake’s media machine will continue to outpace all rivals, if he can overtake, or even match, Kendrick Lamar is artistry, it would make it tough to argue that Drake is the best rapper alive. If Drake can combine his popular power with a new artistic greatness, he will make Kendrick Lamar seem like this generation’s Mos Def, a gifted lyricist and messenger who was stuck in a niche that prevented him from being great to the masses. If he doesn’t find a focus and message on Views, it will vindicate his critics who say that he’s more of a pop star than he is an elite rap artist, and it will hand the crown to Kendrick to keep. There’s little doubt that Views will entertain, and no matter what Drake talks about on the album, it will probably be playing at the first party I go to after its release. But as Kendrick Lamar produces project after project that transcends the stereotype of hip-hop as only talking about women, money, and drugs, Drake has a chance to assert himself as the best in the game by transcending in his own right. I hope he takes it.