Stray Shots: Can Drake Be This Rap Generation’s Jay Z?

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. 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 myself, 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.

Is Drake This Rap Generation’s Jay Z?

Andre: Rap is as fractured as it is immeasurable. It’s a maze of entangled sounds vying for attention, and out of it somehow comes this cohesiveness, as people copy each other in an attempt at catching a wave. Jay Z’s calm Italian gangster motif is such a wave, and it worked well for him — of course — coming from his background as a seller of chemical dreams. Nas and Biggie also adopted more Italian Mob motifs going into their second albums. Away moving, they were, from the street urchin jazz men navigating tricky realities with ingenuity and wit and ferociousness. From lone wolves then, to leaders of organizations reading Sun Tzu and leaving “10 Crack Commandments” and chronicling “Street Dreams.” That’s one of the reasons that Nas’ second album was such an abrupt surprise as it seemed to move at the speed of light from the abstract ‘hooded “urban” monk we constructed for him in our minds.

Rap is also regional. A Memphis sound is different from an Atlanta sound, which is different from a Houston sound, which itself differs from a VA, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Bay area sound. This is part of Rap’s strength. Somewhere someone is piecing together something new.

I guess you can add Toronto to that list now, as well. There was Kardinal Offishall, but his was buried in Caribbean influences, an aspect of Eastern Canada that is deeply misunderstood. And now there is Drake, who I think is, as Louis C.K. described Dane Cook (I’m paraphrasing) a giant space ship of success hurtling into space and dragging up influences from damn near everywhere. Jay was the same, and he’s been called out for it. For taking people’s verses. For imitating flows. Around his third album he settled down, as most artists do, and found specifically the things that work for him, and God his prime was amazing. We’re now in Drake’s prime.

Rap time is faster than real time. A Rap generation is (I’ll try to put some bookends on this) around a decade. 90s fans are often far different from those of the aughts. Why? Because Rap is most powerful during your formative years when you were in school, when you were trying to erect your own tower of identity and cool. You know, figuring out what you were going to accept as true and dash-way anything that lived outside of your mode of existence.

For this generation, then, as Jay was to me and my teenage years into my 20’s, Drake is to the new crop of folks in their teenage years and into their 20’s. So, yeah, probably. He’s most likely the “New Jay” of this batch. Which is remarkable. How he turned his emo sandcastle into an empire is the stuff of Game Of Thrones. He’s in his prime now, and I’d just like to enjoy it. He’ll never make me feel the way Jay did, I think, like I was a giant dwarfed by even larger possibilities, but he doesn’t have to.

Ural: Tough question indeed considering social economic backgrounds, bodies of work between the two and even label situations among other things. Being completely honest, it’s just too early to label Drake this rap generation’s Jay Z. Hell, an answer is probably not going to be realized in the fashion most want until ten years from now. Right now, there are too many variables in consideration for what determines the best rapper in Hip Hop right now from both lyrical and commercial angles. There are subtle similarities between the two however. When Hov dropped his Roc-A-Fella debut Reasonable Doubt, the then twenty-six-year-old was building momentum from an independent hustle established years prior. The same could be said for Drizzy whose YMCMB/Universal Motown debut Thank Me Later came years after pimping the era’s mixtape game with So Far Gone being his last free opus. In contrast, Drake technically came into Hip Hop a star pretty early on compared to Jigga who didn’t really hit his mainstream stride until Vol.2… Hard Knock Life.

Drake is Pop’s biggest rap figure fusing Kanye’s emotionally visceral candor (on wax of course), Jay’s calculated business smarts (If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late proved that) and Lil Wayne’s Southern otherworldliness( random guest features from Migos to ilovemakonnen). If anything, the Toronto native has the potential of something more or at least different in terms of scale. From the looks of things, Drake has already transcended himself within the realm of pop culture status earlier than his influences and not just through music alone. Case in point: Last year’s funniest Saturday Night Live skit in years and the still discussed ESPYs.

Moving beyond that, Drake has managed to still display respect for Hip Hop’s cultural aspect which at this point is undeniable.  Most importantly, they blend quite well into various business ventures. Jay found inspiration in streets for fashion(Rocawear), sports(handling the Brooklyn Nets branding among other things) and liquor. Meanwhile, October’s Very Own has building through his now annual OVO Fest, OVO Sounds imprint at Warner Brother’s Music, Global Ambassador for the Toronto Raptors and even overwhelming support of Toronto’s battle rap scene. Again, a lot could change between now and the upcoming years as Jay’s rise to power was a slow and steady build.

Keeping things in line with today’s music market, Drake continues to be one of the highest, if not the highest selling artist in Hip Hop today. As the second month of 2015 creeps around the corner to close, the former star of Degrassi: The Next Generation has proven yet again why this rap generation’s greatest post-pop rapper. It’s telling when a surprise digital release manages to go gold within the first week of release in today’s climate.  This is something Hov never had to worry much about during early parts within his career where artists were going multi platinum left and right. Despite how many feel about Drake, there’s no doubt he’s making moves making him destined for legendary status.

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.

Ural Garrett is an 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.