Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is me, Andre Grant and Ural Garrett. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
A Majority Of Hip Hop, Not R&B
Andre: Take Care is still Drake’s Magnum Opus. It’s cohesiveness and Grammy attest to that, and his penchant for winding your heart around his little finger reached peak Drake on that release. In terms of drawing that line between bravado and sensitivity, he’s already there, but everyone knows it was “Lord Knows” that got everyone really excited. He hasn’t really done the 90% LP rapping thing since So Far Gone and if there’s a time to break out the rappity-rap it’s now. He destroyed Meek Mill spitting pretty real bars, and IYRTITL was filled with finely tuned skills of a guy who could maybe blow you out of the water lyrically but chooses not to. I’d like to see that on this release. Man, if he dropped an entire album of his whatever am in whatever city songs with a narrative I’d be all here for it.
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Ural: Drizzy’s calling card creatively always centered on blurring the line between Hip Hop and R&B. Makes sense why he’d claim in his Meek Mill diss “Back To Back” that the troubled MMG emcee got “bodied by a singing nigga.” Then there’s the ghostwriting allegations that continue to haunt him today as his reputation as an emcee has been questioned. It’d be nice for OVO to lean more into the rap space just to disprove naysayers. Considering his run in 2015, does he even care about traditional rap notions? This may be wishful thinking as the “Hotline Bling” is starting to look like Views From The 6’s first legitimate single. Hip Hop really wants to see how far he can push himself as an emcee.
Sonically Progressive
Ural: Since his breakout mixtape So Far Gone, Drake and Noah “40” Shebib have continued to evolve that sparse, ambient sound. Honestly speaking, Drizzy hasn’t had a sonically impressive album since Take Care. Shaking things up with an entirely different direction could bode well. If Views From The 6 does well enough, expect loads of copy cats.
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Andre: Drake’s songs tend to get dark early and only find their footing when the metaphorical moon peaks out. But there have been a few examples of smart, fun tunes coming out of the likes of Chance The Rapper’s Surf and others that could provide a short blueprint on how Drizzy can lighten it up a bit. It’s not that he’s doing anything specifically wrong. I mean, he’s got the world eating out of his palm right now, but there’s still one contingent of the rap world that shuns him: the real “Hip Hop heads” constituency.
I’m not even sure if he should try to address that side of things at all, but it would be nice to see a conquering of that demo, too.
Little To No Features
Andre: It’s not like he floods his projects with guest stars a la The Game, but this one needs to be just about him in a tight, thematic feature film. Everyone must feel like the co-star in what is a Drake driven whatever he wants. He continues to reign no matter who he hops on a track with these days. But it’s much too much fun to see Drake in his prime. He needs to own that. He needs to go for the throne he constantly alludes to but acts as though he’d rather avoid it, or assumes he already has it.
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Ural: Anyone looking around the social media have probably seen the meme about J.Cole’s 2014 Forest Hill Drive going platinum without any features. Drizzy has made his career about collaborating with the very best or those who are on the cusp of superstardom. That strategy has successfully kept him in multiple rap conversations alone. Doesn’t mean Drake should cut guest appearances off completely however. But, it’d be nice to see if he could carry an entire album on his back. Then again, how cool would it be for Drizzy to finally score that Sade feature?
Reflects Today
Ural: Drake has been fairly consistent content wise. Most of his music has centered around his status within Hip Hop, aspirations and of course women. Part of what keeps him current are slick references to the mundane aspects of today. There’s an interesting part in his first attack on Mill in “Charged Up” where he mentions police brutality. For someone spending a majority of his career avoiding opinions on social issues, maybe the Toronto native is ready to really dig deep into his inner thoughts.
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Andre: Exactly. It may be time for Drake to risk a little consternation and go for the Hip Hop gold by speaking on issues that affect all our communities. He risks indemnity, though, from a Toronto government that loves him to death and a community that has completely embraced him. But sometimes a person has to go there own way. I don’t blame him for not mentioning much of anything. In the end, this is all entertainment. But maybe he can make “Views From The 6” something more like the postmodern soliloquy that was To Pimp A Butterflyor 3 Stacks ATLien proclamation that was The Love Below.
A Concept Album
Andre: This is the big one. One of the only terrains he’s never really tread. One of the things he’s given up to other artists why he makes maddeningly entertaining songs. The “concept” album. The great American novel of an album that makes you look at your world differently. Makes you look beyond your own emotions to see if anything is really there.
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What means so much to him that he can’t help but spill blood on his records? When we feel like Drake captures something about this life that we have yet to see? He’s good enough to do it. He’s great enough to do it. But will he, well, do it?
Ural: Speaking with Vibe Magazine sometime last year, Drake called Kendrick Lamar’s debut Good Kid m.A.A.d City the last great concept album. Though his projects are cohesive, everything is normally tied together fairly loosely. Views From The 6 is slated to be more of a tribute to his hometown of Toronto. Going back to “Hotline Bling,” it could fit into some overarching narrative that Drizzy has in store.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
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Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
