Why We Don't Fuck with Drake: An Itemized List
SO. We were havin a nice little twitter convo with our homeboys at the Roc Marciano Street Team at Man Bites Dog Records (who we rep hardcore) about how we don't fuck with Drake. And it got us thinking about why not. Here's the gist:
BUT THEN. We rreeaallllyyyyy thought about it. And this is what we came up with.
1) We don't have to. He's got MTV.
And The Source. And Complex. And XXL. And half of Twitter. And a size-able percentage of 14-22 year old girls and boys and campus Greek life. Drake has more covers than a global hotel chain. He sure as hell doesn't need our attention. If he wants more attention, he can probably buy it. We're serious when we say we don't have to--that's not just cheeky shit. We aren't The Source (dried up much?), Complex, or XXL. Or TMZ. They have masses to appeal to and we don't. We're not selling anything or making any money and have no advertisers to attract. Let's be straight--these other venues are businesses, and Drake is a big business. They work well together. Their priorities align like star signs.
"But wait! You are hip hop bloggers, don't you need to be part of the conversation about Drake, you know, to like, know about all sides and what's happening now?"
We don't. This isn't HOT97.
3) We are not non-Partisan.
See #1. We got no commitments to anything but what we like. We are committed to floating our aesthetic boats. Shazam! Take that.
"But, doesn't that, like, mean you're biased?"
Yup. That's exactly what it means. You call it "bias," we call it "couture." Discriminating tastes.
"But wait! You fuck with Kanye!"
4) We just might fuck with Kanye.
Because we can do whatever we want. We find reasons to fuck with Kanye. His latest album is called Yeezus. YEEZUS. Like, rhymes with JESUS. Even when Kanye didn't have the world at his disposal and was rockin a knitted sweater with a teddy bear, he was producing good shit. Kanye's ego may collapse under its own weight, and like a black hole, suck all of us down with it--which, given that the government shut down today, might be a vast improvement--but for a hot minute he has been, and remains, an intriguing artist (we are not saying he's a dope rapper. We can talk about that later.)
Which leads us to say....
5) We just don't find Drake all that...interesting....
Sorry, dude, but you're kind of bland. Benign like a cyst, when you're gone you won't be missed.
MF DOOM is interesting. So is Aesop Rock and A$AP Rocky. Killer Mike is wild. EL-P is brutal. Earl is therapeutic. Riff Raff is a nut who just might also be James Franco. Action Bronson is bonkers. Roc Marciano (strong island represent!) is singular. KA is the truth. Del the Funky is funky. Ras Kass is legit. Drake is just....Drake. (Sorry Kendrick, our jury is coming back and they're reporting you something of a snooze...)
Y'all get the point. There's not a science to what we dig. Sometimes we will explain it. Other times we will plain refuse.
"Ok, so who do you fuck with?"
6) Whoever we want. Whoever we like.
Obviously, we don't fuck with everyone and we can't fuck with everyone. Y'all may have picked up that we have a pretty strong commitment to New York. That needs no explanation. We rep the rest of New York too. Yup, there is a whole damn state and its bigger than Belgium and that's a whole fuckin country. There's a lot of talent popping off in the distressed (we don't like "depressed") rust belt. Cleveland--we see you! Pittsburgh--we see you!
There are reasons why we cast our flaming eye on these remote shires--we believe in the local and in highlighting, supporting, and sustaining local artists. Some of the most interesting and real shit comes out of one side of Chicago or one project in one neighborhood of one borough in New York City. It's like the show "Chopped" (whaddup Food Network! Holla back Ina Garten!) If you've maybe got a limited selection of ingredients to work with, there's more impulse to innovate. Fact--you must innovate to survive, and that's what the Rust Belt has been forced to do. Pittsburgh, anyone?! Yo, we remember when Wiz was Wiz KID....
On the level of the lyric, what is more interesting: Kendrick's "damn I got bitches" ("backseat freestyle", good kid m.a.a,d city)* or Buffalo rapper Dr. Ooo's "all I need is noodles n love" (link...)
*(we realize that this joint is mostly ironic)
One of these lines we've heard like 8 million times and it's lost all meaning. Can you guess which one? Say "couch" out loud repeatedly for 20 minutes. It becomes a sound, conveying nothing.
Sustainability--in life and art--starts, and is most effective at, the local level. So we rep for those who rep for those. (<--That's M.O.P)
We don't hate Drake. We might be jeally of his money and chains, sure, but we don't hate him. In fact, much respect to him for making his money/getting gifted mad shit. Good on you bro. But when the big stars flame out, the local cats will probably still be at it.
Noodles n love. Noodles n love.
Man Bites Dog Records. Double AB (too too slept on). Roc Marciano. AG DA Coroner. Homeboy Sandman. Prime Example. Earl Sweatshirt. Covert and The Essential Vitamins Crew. Quadir Lateef. Short Moscato. Mic Excel. Dr. Ooo. Kid Koala. Statik Selektah. Jacob Freeman. Jae-Skeese. Joell Ortiz. Noreaga. Nick Shades. Despot. Cap Steeze. RA the Rugged Man. Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire. Ras Kass. Alchemist. Ayatollah. 9th Wonder. Action Bronson. Inspectah Deck. Raekwon. KA. Sean Price. Scram Jones. Cannibal Ox. Dub Sonata.
An extraordinarily abbreviated list of who we have been fuckin with recently. We can't be on top of everything--we drink too much and sleep too much. So holler back and put us on--who should we be fuckin with?
(For those of you who say "Drake!" we have an eye-roll and ironic laugh already cued up for ya. Actually, you can just pop over here.)
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