THIS JUST IN: DRAKE WRITES SONGS ABOUT LOVE 'SHAKE AND BAKE,' RELATIONSHIP BAGGAGE, BUT RESENTS 'EMOTIONAL RAPPER' LABEL...STILL

A few months ago, Drake sat down with Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi of CBC Radio and broke it down for the people: “I’m so sick of people saying that I’m like lonely and emotional, and associating me with this like longing for a woman,” he explained. “I hate that, it bothers me so much…’cause I do make music that makes you feel something, but I’m actually not that guy in real life, I’m happy…I’m very excited, my life is constantly exciting, it’s not some sad depressing story.” He went on to say that, “As far as the soundscapes go,” Drake continued, “That’s just the music I chose to make. I make music strictly for the purpose of driving at night time.”

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the plethora of memes on Facebook, and the websites dedicated to their creation--Drake holding random baby, Drake striking a model pose, Drake hunched down against a wall with big brown puppy dog eyes, Drake forlorn. Accompanying each photo is some sort of emotionally mocking, tongue-in-cheek quote action. All I can say is...haters gon' hate. But I'm a hater, and I love to hate to love Aubrey Graham, because, he's made a fortune off of being the "soft guy." But in a world of gimmick-ruled hip hop, isn't everyone going "soft" nowadays? Drake is one of the few "newcomers" who has at least managed to maintain the same image over the course of his success (Hopefully he isn't mentored by Snoop Dogg who "found the light" all of a sudden and became Snoop Lion or P.Diddy who went through like, five name changes and just continues to hop on other artists' steezes instead of stitching out his own). Who doesn't love a kid in a wheelchair. What woman radio listener is going, "He cared too much and shit!" No woman, I have yet to meet, anyway (though I'm sure they still exist).

Negativity initially poured in from the masculine hip hop perspective, because pride is something to be cherished--they're all keeping up on who's getting the most ego boosts per day and who's crown jewels are getting polished by which video vixen at the moment. Which brings me to another question: how does one acquire "street cred" in the industry, is it meaningless within the scene now, with all the Tygas running around making pop tracks with Justin Bieber figures and Mileys shaking their ass next to Mike-Will-Made-It and Juicy J? It just seems like an overly obvious route to take in order to increase numbers. It's clear that, today in mainstream hip hop, you need a game plan. One can't rely on talent alone; you must have a back story, an oddity, a controversy.

Drake has all of the above. You also must stay current on all new trends, hip hop and non-hip hop alike, or you will get devoured. Hip hop has made it's way into all aspects of private and public life, from lingo to dress to movies to philosophy and mannerisms. People on the outskirts yearn for that very street cred that has been lost within the scene. It's the cross-genre chameleon transcending racial and socioeconomic boundaries, a force twerked forward by singers like Miley Cyrus. And the hip hop world embraced her. It is the new dirty pop; it fits into whatever context/trend relevant at the moment. The genre's reputation has undergone several face lifts over the years, and so has its mainstream fan base. With the idea of "street cred" out the window,the line of distinction has faded. If all hell is breaking loose, why can't Drake continue to shed a tear or two in a song without people accusing him of "emasculating" the entire game? Leave Aubrey alone!

I wanted to reflect on this whole Drake meme craze that has been going strong on the internet for about two or three years now. And by "reflect" on I mean make fun of...for funsies. Nothing more, nothing less. These “Drakeisms” have been going on since 2011/2012 (Complex mag’s got 15 hilarious ones right here). Drake memes also made it to the number 15 spot on Complex’s list of Biggest Internet Sensations of 2013 (Miley Cyrus makes the number two spot, that’s a post in itself (I could name the top five twerk incidents that should never happen in public again. She would be on the list, not because she shouldn't do it, but because she's doing it wrong, but shall refrain). I decided to play around with the "Drakeism" thing myself. I have no meme powers, but I DO have an indulgent mind, and Drake just happens to be my muse of the minute. I therefore posed the question to fellow hip hop friends: can you feed my Drake habit and send me your corniest, emotionally nauseating Drake bars? Responses did not flood in (Guess "street cred" matters in the underground of talent (Lil Wayne doesn't count, already checked). My really good writer friend, however, was all for it (We share this Drake meme fetish...and a love for the outlandishly spontaneous). She was totally down for some senseless fun. And so it started off as a battle of girl-on-girl wit:


She came with a second round of heat seconds later:


A random Facebook scroller was astounded by our amazing Drake lyric quick draw and blasted us away with his social commentary:


We were so damn hyped we just couldn't help but drag some local rapper elites into the whole deal...Chaotik Stylz goes in...#CYPHER!!!!:


After a few exchanges it was evident, that, one really can't take Drake too seriously. He's as soft as a snuggie (And knows quite a lot about feminine hygiene products):


BUT THEN Kevin "Frigid Giant" Delgado smacked us in the face with a more realistic portrayal of the rapper in song, a verse Drake himself would be highly proud of, and could actually use:


I suppose if Drake cared about street cred, he could toughen up his image, zipper up into a deadmua5 suit and start twerking on stage at the Country Music awards, which would arouse excitement in any and every country artist who has ever had the devil on their shoulder taunting them into incorporate a rhyme or two in one of their songs. Hey, Drake's all for it (#streetcred). But he's doing him right now...



Last name Ever, first name Greatest, like a sprained ankle boy, I ain't nothin' to play with, started off local, but thanks to all the haters I know G4 pilots on a first name basis, UH

The sound of modern R&B has changed over the past few years with artists like The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, and How to Dress Well making pop-centric records with a relatable narrative and moody, sometimes ethereal production that sonically feels breath of fresh air for a genre that has often been characterized by recycling and over-using the same formulas. Los Angeles singer Miguel is a perfect example of this stylistic shift as his debut LP All I Want Is You was a solid, radio-ready R&B album but did little to distinguish itself in terms of creative flair. After seeking to reintroduce himself artistically, the singer's 2012 sophomore album, Kaleidoscope Dream, was praised by critics for its' incorporation of psychedelic rock as well as funk and soul elements and highly detailed, eclectic production aesthetic that managed to feel highly personal and true to the genre's soulful tradition.

The merger between the electronic and indie world and R&B continues to be one of the most interesting collaborative trends in recent years, sparking a creative conversation that seems to allow for the personality behind each to come across naturally. Miguel will be in Buffalo tonight at the First Niagara Center to open for Drake's "Would You Like A Tour?" along with Future. Show starts at 7pm, tickets are still available and can be purchased here.

Tonight, Drake takes the stage at Neitzsche's. Just kidding, but that would be awesome. Even typing "Drake" and "Neitzsche's" in the same sentence was a great time. He'll be at the First Niagara Center tonight, and if my friends have any sort of credibility, he will put on a great show. I've never been a huge fan of high-profile rap shows, owing largely to an experience I had at a horrendous Jurassic 5 show when I was in high school, but his studio shit is mostly top-notch and even though his latest album didn't do much for me, his catalog is solid and he's too committed to mail-in a concert. It'll be a great show if you give it a chance.

Doors open at 7, and Drake goes on at god knows when. Miguel and Future open. Tickets are still on sale for $65-$115, depending on how much money you are trying to spend.

The Alchemist ft. Action Bronson - "Diagnosis"

Fashion designer Dr. Romanelli is not a doctor. We know this because he is a fashion designer and not in any way associated with the medical profession. He is known primarily for collaborating with popular brands to create articles of clothing carefully priced at the lower end of abject madness. His impressive resume includes collaborations with Nike, Converse, Pete Wentz and his penis, and now Coca Cola.


Run the Jewels - "Get It"

When you logged into your Myspace page back in August, you were no doubt excited to learn about 'Music Video Collaborations With Artists We Like', the new program designed to produce music videos with handpicked artists and labels.

My top eight are huge fans of El-P and Killer Mike, having been big supporters of Definitive Jux back in the day, and won't stop blabbing about the new visuals for the "Get It" single released earlier this year on Fool's Gold Records. It was shot on the road during their recent tour of North America that definitely didn't have a stop in Buffalo and looked like a great time none of us got to have. Look for special cameos from Despot and Kool AD who still owes me an apology for breaking up Das Racist.




Childish Gambino - "Worldstar"

Mr. Glover's new record Because The Internet is scheduled to hit December 10th, and here's a rather appropriately titled leak to get you in the mood. Worldstarhiphop.com is, of course, one of the worst places on the entire internet, an aggregate of shitty music and videos of people committing acts of felony assault that celebrate the darkest parts of human nature. Naturally, I read it every day.

"Worldstar" doesn't delve as far into blatant mockery as I'd have liked, but I think Gambino would shoot me a knowing wink if I asked him about it before having me removed by security so I don't kill his vibe by being poor within fifty feet of him. Homie gots that TV money.



Drake Being Drake

“Who we listening to?” a buddy of mine asked.

“Drake,” I replied.

“Fuck Drake,” he said.

Indeed. In a lot of ways, fuck Drake. He burst onto the rap scene about 5 years ago, and has been slowly losing momentum ever since. His albums have consistently been snooze-fests. Nothing Was The Same, his new album, is no different. “Started From The Bottom,” decent at best, is by far the best song on the album, and let me tell you this: “Started From The Bottom” has no business being the best song on any album.

Drake is a man that berthed the phrase YOLO, and for that he should be judged with a very firm hand. Interestingly, “The Motto,” the song that popularized the phrase, is probably my favorite song by him. It shows off his flow, and it's catchy as hell. That's the problem with Nothing Was The Same and that's why I'm only listening to it because I made a commitment to review it: it's slow and dull, and its berthed an equally-annoying phrase I'll dub catchy as heaven.

Drake is not Frank Ocean. Drake is not John Legend. He was really good when he first came out because he just went after it, and he is really good on songs that he is featured on because he just goes, but on Nothing Was The Same, we could do without the slow jams. There are just way too many songs that sound like what he plays in his bedroom as he's getting it in. There are just way too many songs that sound like he's already paired them with a glass of wine. There are just way too many songs that sound like he wrote them as he was slowly drifting into outer space.

And really, qualities like that in a song are not necessarily a bad thing. But it depends greatly on the artist. That's the whole reason for the “Fuck Drake,” comment above: He's at his best when he's going hard and quick, and that just doesn't happen enough on Nothing Was The Same.

A particularly annoying moment takes place in the first song, “Tuscan Leather.” Towards the middle of the song, Drake asks, “How much time is this nigga spendin' on the intro?” The implication is that a lot of artists record a one-minute intro and call it a day, while Drake records a six-minute intro and considers himself a baller. Well, it's extremely easy to spend a lot of time on an intro when that is your only goal. Congratulations, man. The metaphor is that Drake's career is just getting started, while many of his comrades blow up overnight and just as quickly fade away. What Drake doesn't understand, though, is that he's falling out of favor quicker than he thinks. 

Grade: C-

Edwang: Buffalo remixer, former Bills great? Maybe not on the latter, but the San Diego ex-pat, and current Buffalo resident, does have a thing for remixing Yooth Lagoon tunes with some contemporary hip hop jams. On his dreamy new track that debuted this week, Edwang mixes YL's "Afternoon" and "Poetic Justice" by Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Word is Edwang was nursing a busted up elbow while mixing the tune, resulting in this peracent fueled mashup Turn the lights off and watch your iTunes visualizer to this one.

Drake is at his best when building his own legend, making “5 AM In Toronto” a welcome follow-up to his last single, “Started From The Bottom.” Where “Started From The Bottom” rang hollow -- look to the laughably misleading title and nagging hook -- “5AM In Toronto” feels like a homecoming. Over a sparkling Boi-1da (the producer responsible for Drake’s first hit “Best I Ever Had”)beat, Drake lets loose what could possibly be the line of the year when he asks“Why every song sounds like Drake featuring Drake." Five in the morning is a lonely time, the night's over and most are not up for work yet, but Drake makes it sound triumphant. And that's really all you can ask of a pop-song.

The Grammys are a bit of an easy target. Whether it's the frequent confusion over what year a given album is eligible for the awards, or the ever-evolving definition of a "new" artist, the show is far from perfect. Still, while some music snobs may not want to admit, it's also a pretty fun night. There's always at least one really embarrassing performance, and usually one legitimately good one. I'll be tuning to catch the show on Sunday night (in between the Sabres-Bruins game, anyway), and when it's 11:30, and I'm good and drunk, I doubt I'll regret the decision.

Now, let's take a look at some of the major awards, and see if we can't figure out who'll be walking away with Grammy gold this Sunday.

Record Of The Year

"Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson
"We Are Young" - fun. featuring Janelle Monáe
"Somebody That I Used to Know" - Gotye Featuring Kimbra
"Thinkin Bout You" - Frank Ocean
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

Projected Winner: Frank Ocean - "Thinkin' Bout You"
This is a reasonably strong field. "Lonely Boy" was one of the best rock songs to hit mainstream rock radio in awhile, and while "We Are Young" has been played to death, and then played 10 million more times for good measure, it was pretty cool when it first came out. Taylor Swift had a catchy tune because she's good at writing at catchy tunes, but I think Ocean is the clear winner here. "Thinkin' Bout You" is just one of those songs. It's an instant nominee into the Sad Song Hall Of Fame, right next to "Everybody Hurts," and "Nothing Compares 2 U."  Just when you think you've gotten past the hardest part, the "oooh ooohs" come in and you're just sinks. I can't even think about this song without crying, and frankly, it's probably not even the saddest song on the album, but I'll get to that later.

Album Of The Year

El Camino - The Black Keys
Some Nights - Fun.
Babel - Mumford & Sons
Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss - Jack White

Projected Winner: Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

Once again, a stronger category than in a lot of recent years. I think Ocean takes this partly because he really did have the best album of the year, but also because he has the highest approval rating of anyone in music right now. Everyone loves him, and fighting with Chris Brown (the biggest villain in show business) only helped that cause. All of that is fine, though, because he made a brilliant album, and genuinely deserves to win. His stiffest competition will likely come from Mumford & Sons, who are probably the biggest band around right now, and who already won the hearts of the Grammy community with their great performance with Bob Dylan in 2011. Still, this seems like Frank Ocean's night, and I expect him to come away with the two biggest awards.

Song Of The Year

"The A Team" - Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
"Adorn" - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
"Call Me Maybe" - Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
"We Are Young" - Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe)

Projected Winner: Call Me Maybe

I still don't understand the difference between Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year, and quite frankly, I don't want to understand it. With that said, this is a really easy one. "Call Me Maybe" was every-freaking-where in 2012, and this will be its last hurrah. Maybe "Adorn," would be a better choice, but that song had far less of an impact on pop music. "Call Me Maybe" was the biggest song of the year, and none of us will be getting it out of our heads until 2017.

Best New Artist

Alabama Shakes
fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Projected Winner: Frank Ocean
To the voters' credit, most of these artists actually are new, and there's nothing as egregious as Bon Iver being nominated last year even though his debut album came out in 2008 (all-time best example of this: Modest Mouse.being nominated in 2005 when their debut album came out in 1996!). Anyway, I have Ocean continuing his big night by bringing home this one, too. Since nostalgia. ULTRA. wasn't a proper album, he is legitimately eligible for this honor, so that's a plus. The one potential upset is fun., because they were one of the most ubiquitous bands of 2012, with "We Are Young," and "Some Nights" constantly popping up in movie trailers and commercials. Plus, they have a distinctive look and sound, and even if you don't like them, you will remember them. Still, I don't think they'll stand in Christopher Breaux's way.

Best Rock Album

El Camino - The Black Keys
Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
The 2nd Law - Muse
Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen
Blunderbuss - Jack White

Projected Winner: The Black Keys - El Camino

An extremely strong field, and I'd be cool with any of these albums winning. Still, I'm going with the Keys here because the Grammy's want to honor them. After being noticed by the mainstream with Attack And Release and Brothers, this was the album that made them one of the biggest bands in the country. Plus, the Keys have been tagged as the band that will "save rock n roll," which is a bit overblown but fairly understandable. Jack White will be their closest competition, as he made a great album while reminding us that the end of the White Stripes is not the end of the world. I thought Wrecking Ball was amazing, and I'd love to see the Boss take this, but the youth movement won't be stopped here.

Best Rap Album

Take Care - Drake
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco
Life Is Good - Nas
Undun - The Roots
God Forgives, I Don't - Rick Ross
Based On A T.r.u. Story - 2 Chainz

Projected Winner: Drake - Take Care

Once you overlook the fact this album is responsible for the phrase "yolo," what you're left with is an extremely engrossing album by an artist who is not afraid to share his darkest thoughts with the audience. "Marvin's Room" was one of the most brutal breakup songs in recent memory, and as Drake shifts back and forth from the high-flying millionaire lifestyle to his darker personal thoughts, the overall picture depicts a confused young man trying to be as happy as he feels he should be. Really, even though there's no shortage of good albums in this category, Drake should run away with this one. He had the most popular and critically rap album of the year, and everyone will be eating his dust on Sunday.

Drake along with J. Cole, Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz and French Montana will be performing tonight 7 pm at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.  There has been a buzz since the tour release date was announced and now it's finally here.  Each artist will bring their own personality to the stage ranging from emotionally sensitive to drug hustling.  Hyphy fans will await Flocka's signature 'Flocka call' in the midst of "Hard in Da Paint" while some will whimper to themselves thinking of their bad breakups during Drake's rather depressing and heartbroken "Doing It Wrong."