
Hip-Hop's new Savior.
Successful artists from Mary J. Blige to Jamie Foxx are crowning rapper/actor Aubrey "Drake" Graham as Hip-Hop's new savior.
Foxx recently had this to say:
"Drake is the new movement, man. You gotta think about what this kid has done, man. To have records on a mixtape, and then the next thing you know he's on top of the charts. And every time you mention him, people go crazy
While no one can dispute the fact that newcomer Drake is currently taking the music industry by storm, is it fair to call him the savior of Hip-Hop. A savior is someone who saves something, or prevents it from extinction or harm.
Critics of Hip-Hop have been saying that the art form is dead while others think the creativity is at it's peak. While you would be hard pressed to find many who agree with the latter, what would be the credentials of someone who is saving Hip-Hop.
The criterion for being a Hip-Hop heavyweight changes based on who is doing the judging but one thing for sure is that in order to be great your lyrical skills and content must be superior. Sadly Drake's content and wordplay, while witty is far from the level that he would be saving the game and forcing other rappers to step their game up. I never thought I would say this but you can find more lyrical superiority in listening to 1/4 of a Slaughterhouse track than either of Drake's two mixtapes that can be downloaded at any local website near you.
What Drake is doing, and very well I might add is bringing fun back to Hip-Hop. He's not afraid to rap about girls, cars and flossing ----- and how broke flossing makes him at times. It's too early for all this savior talk and it feels rushed. Record labels and music people are too anxious to usher in a new "savior" in order to build a buzz around that rapper so that sales can stop looking so dismal.
Is Drake 2009's savior of Hip-Hop, probably not. Is he doing a good job finding himself a great fanbase while creating good music, yes he is and that is all an artist can ask for while aspiring to be the best.